Sexual health guidelines
Conducting sexual health checks is an essential prerequisite to diagnosing and treating sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and blood borne viruses (BBVs). Clinicians are legally required to notify their local public health unit of STIs and BBVs of public health significance.
- Australian STI Management Guidelines are online resources for primary care health professionals to support the prevention, testing, diagnosis, management and treatment of STIs for adults and adolescents.
- National HIV Testing Policy is for health professionals ordering HIV-related tests, and interpreting the results.
- Australian STI and HIV Testing Guidelines 2014 for Asymptomatic MSM has been developed to encourage regular STI screening of men who have sex with men (MSM).
- Australian Consensus STI Testing Guideline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People has been developed by the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine and the Commonwealth Department of Health as a quick reference guide for people who may be new to the sector or new to different geographic areas and unfamiliar with local guidelines. The consensus guideline does not replace local clinical management guidelines.
- A Series of National Guidelines (SoNGs) has been developed by the Commonwealth Department of Health for public health units to respond to a notifiable disease event (e.g. syphilis).
- Australasian Society of HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) testing portal links health practitioners with current national testing policies for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
- Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare.
- Clinical Practice Guidelines—Pregnancy Care have been developed to provide a reliable and standard reference for health professionals providing antenatal care.
- Communicable Disease Control Guidance and Information: A-Z provides clinical guidelines, notification forms, data and easy to read fact sheets for all notifiable conditions in Queensland.
- Queensland Clinical Guideline – Syphilis in Pregnancy (PDF, 735KB) based on the best available evidence and clinical consensus in Queensland, Australia.
- Queensland Health has adapted a STI/BBV Testing Tool for Asymptomatic People (PDF, 642KB) to reflect current guidelines for STI/BBV testing and treatment, and information about partner notification/contact tracing.
- There is also an abridged version of the STI/BBV Testing Tool for Asymptomatic People (PDF, 403KB).
- The Queensland Health Chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing (PDF, 568KB) resource contains preferred chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing advice and an illustrated tool for self-collection of samples for STI testing.
- Queensland Health guideline for Reporting a reasonable/reportable suspicion of child abuse and neglect.
- Primary clinical care manual is the principal clinical reference and policy document for health professionals working in diverse, and rural and remote health service settings.
- Guidelines for management of occupational and non-occupational exposures to blood and body fluids (2017) (PDF, 464kB)
- Sexual health and safety guidelines—Mental health, alcohol and other drug services 2016 (PDF, 177kB)
- Guide to offering STI testing for people aged less than 16 years attending clinical services (PDF, 446kB).
Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adolescent Sexual Health Guideline (2015) (PDF, 1.04MB) provides relevant insights into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and historical influences, to help guide practice in order to deliver culturally competent sexual healthcare to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents.
A North Queensland Sexually Transmissible Infections Action Plan 2016-2021 (Action Plan) (PDF, 4.31MB) also targets:
- Eliminating congenital syphilis in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies in North Queensland by December 2017.
- Controlling the syphilis outbreaks in the North Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population by December 2020.
- Progressively reducing the prevalence of syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in North Queensland.
- Consent to disclosure of sexual health information between private practitioners and facilities (PDF, 89KB)
- Privacy and confidentiality of health information in Queensland Health