SHINE SA Secures $48 Million From The SA Govt To Keep Sexual Healthcare Accessible

SHINE SA has secured $48 million in South Australian Government funding over seven years, giving the sexual health organisation certainty through to 2033, which is welcome news for LGBTQIA+ South Aussies.

Announced this month, the agreement supports free and low-cost sexual and reproductive healthcare across metropolitan and regional SA, including HIV prevention, testing and treatment, contraception, cervical screening and unplanned pregnancy support.

For LGBTQIA+ South Australians, that includes inclusive sexual healthcare, with appointments available through clinics in Adelaide’s CBD, Woodville and the recently reopened Davoren Park service. Telehealth connects regional and remote patients with care, alongside SHINE SA’s free, confidential Sexual Healthline.

More than 6,800 people accessed over 18,300 clinical appointments in the past year, while more than 1,000 health professionals participated in training during 2025–26. The agreement also supports education around sexual health and respectful relationships.

Health and Wellbeing Minister Blair Boyer said the renewed partnership would help people access services “regardless of where they live”.

“It will also help advance important public health goals, including preventing HIV and eliminating cervical cancer as a public health threat.

I’m proud of our government’s support to improve the health of LGBTIQA+ South Australians. It was Don Dunstan’s Labor Government who first funded what was then Shine SA, and I’m proud that the Malinauskas Labor Government has expanded that support to enable Shine SA to re-open a clinic in Davoren Park.”

The funding supports shared goals of preventing HIV and eliminating cervical cancer as a public health threat — work that relies on people being able to get through the clinic door in the first place.

SHINE SA chief executive Holley Skene said the agreement would allow the organisation to plan ahead alongside the communities it serves.

“This partnership provides certainty for the communities, families, educators and health professionals we work alongside every day, and allows us to continue delivering clinical care, education and support across South Australia.”

“Looking to the future, we are working towards a South Australia where sexual and reproductive health and rights are upheld, where stigma continues to decline, and where every person is treated with dignity, respect and compassion.”

Hell yeah, South Australia! [EDITOR NOTE: This SA-born-and-bred Managing Editor has a tear of Adelaidean pride in her eyes as we speak.]

SHINE SA’s important role in South Australia’s HIV/AIDS response

SHINE SA began as the Family Planning Association of South Australia in 1970, expanding over the decades into the broad sexual health service South Australians know today.

An important chapter in its HIV work came in 2015, when it joined with the then Victorian AIDS Council – now the ever-wonderful Thorne Harbour Health – to establish SAMESH. The partnership provides HIV and sexual health education, outreach and peer support for men who have sex with men and people living with HIV, alongside services for the wider LGBTQIA+ community.

Today, SHINE SA’s services include HIV care and prevention medications PrEP and PEP. Its free rapid HIV testing uses trained peers, offering a less confronting way to get tested — particularly valuable when shame or fear might otherwise keep folks frm our community away.