Well Well Well

21 Aug 2025

Celebrating 10 Years of SAMESH

Advocacy and Activism, Health, HIV, Peer Education Program, Sex & Sexuality, Sexual Health, Thorne Harbour Health (VAC)

SAMESH, the South Australian Mobilisation and Empowerment for Sexual Health is an HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion program which recently celebrated ten years since its foundation.

This partnership between Thorne Harbour Health and SHINE SA came about in 2015 after the AIDS Council of South Australia (ACSA) closed a few years prior.

Jack spoke with two people who were instrumental in its formation and ongoing operation:

• Colin Batrouney, Director of Health Promotion and Community Engagement at Thorne Harbour Health
• Holley Skene, Chief Executive Officer of SHINE SA

They discuss how SAMESH was designed to address gaps in sexual health education for our diverse communities in SA in 2015, some of the significant health promotion campaigns, and the lessons to come from overseeing this work over the past ten years.

Check out our other JOY Podcasts for more on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing at joy.org.au/wellwellwell.

If there’s something you’d like us to explore on the show, send through ideas or questions at wellwellwell@joy.org.au

Find out more about LGBTIQ+ services and events in Victoria and South Australia at thorneharbour.org and samesh.org.au.

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