Glossary of Terms
Here are some names and terms that are commonly used at National Forum. If someone uses a term that you don’t know the meaning of, please feel free to put your hand up and ask what it means – if you don’t know it, it’s very likely there are others who don’t as well.
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
Member organisations of Scarlet Alliance are 100% sex worker run.
DEBBY DOESN’T DO IT FOR FREE
Sex worker group that does activism through performance.
VIXEN
Vixen is Victoria’s peer-only sex worker organisation. Unfunded from 2005-2022; Vixen was funded from early 2022 by the Victorian Department of Health. Currently auspiced by Scarlet Alliance.
RESPECT INC.
Respect Inc is a non-profit, peer-based organisation focused on protecting and promoting the rights, health and wellbeing of Queensland sex workers.
SIN (SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SEX INDUSTRY NETWORK)
SIN is a community-based organisation funded to promote the health, rights and wellbeing of South Australian sex workers.
SWEAR WA (SEX WORK; EDUCATION, ADVOCACY & RIGHTS WESTERN AUSTRALIA)
SWEAR WA is Western Australia’s unfunded peak sex worker organisation; providing peer support, education, advocacy and outreach services to WA sex workers.
SWOP NSW (SEX WORKER OUTREACH PROJECT OF NSW)
SWOP NSW a community-based peer education sex worker organisation with a mission to provide sex workers with the same access to health, safety, human rights, and workplace protections as all other Australian workers.
SWOP ACT (SEX WORKER OUTREACH PROJECT OF ACT)
SWOP is a sex worker-led, peer-based community organisation whose primary purpose is the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), through education, referral and empowerment. A project of Meridian, formerly the AIDS Action Council of ACT.
SWOP NT (SEX WORKER OUTREACH PROJECT OF NT)
SWOP NT is a peer-based health promotion service that engages sex workers and other sex industry stakeholders in the Northern Territory. A project of NTAHC.
ASSOCIATE MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
Associate member organisations of Scarlet Alliance are not 100% sex worker run.
MAGENTA
Sex worker support project for Western Australia. A project of Sexual Health Quarters (formerly The Family Planning Association of Western Australia). Has previously also used the name SWOP WA.
TOUCHING BASE
Touching Base is a sex worker and people with disability organisation that developed out of the need to assist people with disability and sex workers to connect with each other, focusing on access, discrimination, human rights and legal issues and the attitudinal barriers that these two marginalised communities can face.
SCARLET ALLIANCE PROGRAMS
LUTRUWITA (TASMANIAN) SEX WORKER PROJECT
The peer run sex worker project for lutruwita (Tasmania). Funded by the Tasmanian Government.
SANTP (SCARLET ALLIANCE NATIONAL TRAINING ONLINE PROGRAM)
A self-directed interactive online learning platform that establishes a national benchmark for peer educators. It was developed and is maintained by experienced sex worker peer educators, in consultation with the sex worker community and sex worker organisations. Was formerly called SANTAP (Scarlet Alliance National Training and Assessment Program) which also had a diploma assessment component.
RED BOOK ONLINE
The Red Book Online contains health and safety information by sex workers, for sex workers. The name refers to the print version of the Scarlet Alliance STI Handbook that was published in 1998, 2003 and 2009.
SEX WORK LAW REFORM
DECRIMINALISATION (AKA DECRIM)
The removal of all sex work and sex industry specific legislation, so that sex work is regulated through existing mechanisms that apply to other industries.
LICENSING / LEGALISATION
Where there are sex work and sex industry specific laws or regulations, such as brothel licenses, sex worker registration and mandatory testing.
CRIMINALISATION
Where there are laws that criminalise sex workers, our clients, and/or our workplaces.
THE SWEDISH MODEL
Laws that criminalise the clients of sex workers, sex worker workplaces, and anyone that receives money indirectly from sex work (e.g. sex worker landlords). Also known by people who support this model as the “end demand” model, the Nordic Model, “asymmetric criminalisation”, or even more disingenuously, “the equality model”.
WHS/OHS (WORKPLACE OR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY)
Regulations that apply to workplaces on managing risks to the health and safety of everyone in the workplace. Each state or territory has its own WHS/OHS regulator. It is WHS in every state and territory except Victoria, where it is OHS.
INDUSTRIAL REGULATIONS
Refers to workplace laws and regulations, such as the Fair Work Act 2009.
INTERNATIONAL SEX WORKER ORGANISATIONS
APNSW (ASIA PACIFIC NETWORK OF SEX WORKERS)
APNSW is a regional network that is run by, and works with and for, the sex workers, groups, networks and organisations in the Asia and the Pacific region.
EMPOWER FOUNDATION
Thai sex worker organisation. Empower is the lead representative organisation for women sex workers in Thailand.
FRIENDS FRANGIPANI
Sex worker organisation in Papua New Guinea. Scarlet Alliance ran a capacity development project with Friends Frangipani from 2006 to 2014.
NSWP (GLOBAL NETWORK OF SEX WORK PROJECTS)
NSWP is the international network of local, national or regional sex worker-led organisations and networks across five regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America and the Caribbean.
SAN (SURVIVAL ADVOCACY NETWORK)
SAN is a network of Fiji past and present sex workers. Scarlet Alliance ran a capacity development project with SAN from 2008 to 2010.
$CARLET TIMOR COLLECTIVE
Sex worker organisation in Timor-Leste. Scarlet Alliance ran a capacity development project with Friends Frangipani from 2008 to 2015.
SWING (SERVICE WORKERS IN GROUP)
Thai sex worker organisation. SWING works with sex workers of all genders, cultures and nationalities, across three peer-led drop-in centres in tourist “hot-spots” of Thailand.
SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
ACON
NSW health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention & LGBTQIA health. Previously known as the AIDS Council of NSW.
AIVL (AUSTRALIAN INJECTING AND ILLICIT DRUG USERS LEAGUE)
The Australian national peak organisation focused on advancing the health and human rights of people with living or lived experience of drug use. Representing state and territory peer-based organisations, AIVL’s overall focus is to ensure that the ‘voice’ of people who use drugs is heard at a national level.
ANA (ANWERNEKENHE NATIONAL HIV ALLIANCE)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-based organisation providing national leadership in promoting and advocating for culturally appropriate services in HIV education, prevention, treatments, care and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
ARCSHS (AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH CENTRE IN SEX, HEALTH & SOCIETY)
ARCHS is a social research centre located within the Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University.
ASHM (AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY FOR HIV, VIRAL HEPATITIS AND SEXUAL HEALTH MEDICINE)
ASHM is a peak professional body representing healthcare professionals in HIV, BBV, and sexual and reproductive health.
HEALTH EQUITY MATTERS (FORMERLY AFAO)
The national federation for the HIV community response. Formerly the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO).
HEPATITIS AUSTRALIA
the peak community organisation to progress national action on issues of importance to people affected by hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Membership of the eight state and territory hepatitis organisations.
HRI (HARM REDUCTION INTERNATIONAL)
International organisation that uses data and advocacy to promote harm reduction and drug policy reform.
HRVIC (HARM REDUCTION VICTORIA)
Victorian community organisation for people who use drugs.
KIRBY INSTITUTE
The Kirby Institute is a health research institute at UNSW Sydney. Founded in 1986, its initial research focus on HIV/AIDS has expanded over time to include viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and a range of other infectious diseases.
LASH (THE LAW AND SEX WORKER HEALTH PROJECT)
A longstanding project maintains surveillance of state and territory government legal approaches to sex work, the impact these laws have on health promotion programs, the impact on behaviour, and the impact on the health and well-being of sex workers and their clients. Funded by NSW, Victorian and WA Governments, and the NHMRC.
LGBTIQ+ HEALTH AUSTRALIA (FORMERLY THE NATIONAL LGBTI HEALTH ALLIANCE)
Peak health organisation for LGBT and intersex organisations in Australia.
MERIDIAN ACT
ACT health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention & LGBTQIA health. Formerly AIDS Action Council of the ACT.
MICHAEL KIRBY CENTRE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A collaboration of interdisciplinary scholars in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University.
NAPWHA (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH HIV AUSTRALIA)
Australia’s peak non-government organisation representing community-based groups of PLHIV across Australia.
NTAHC (NORTHERN TERRITORY AIDS AND HEPATITIS COUNCIL)
NTAHC provides a broad-based community response to Blood Borne Viruses in the Northern Territory.
NUAA (NSW USERS AND AIDS ASSOCIATION)
The NSW peer-based organisation advocating for people who use drugs, particularly those who inject drugs
POSITIVE LIFE NSW
The largest peer-led and run representative body of all people living with HIV in Australia based in NSW.
PROJECT RESPECT
A Victorian “support and referral service for women trafficked for sexual exploitation and women in the sex industry” with a long history of advocating for policies and legislation that would harm sex workers, such as the Swedish Model.
QC (THE QUEENSLAND COUNCIL FOR LGBTI HEALTH)
Queensland health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention & LGBTQIA health. Formerly the Queensland AIDS Council (QuAC) and Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC)
QPP (QUEENSLAND POSITIVE PEOPLE)
QPP is a peer-led, community-based organisation committed to improving the lives of all people living with HIV and helping reduce new infections of HIV and STIs across Queensland.
RHED (RESOURCING HEALTH & EDUCATION)
RhED is a non-peer service for the sex industry in Victoria. A project of the Better Health Network, formerly Star Health. Formerly an associate member of Scarlet Alliance.
SAMESH
South Australian joint venture between SHINE SA and Thorne Harbour Health for community-based support for education, training and advocacy of sexual health and HIV.
SHINE SA (SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION NETWORKING & EDUCATION)
South Australian sexual health and relationship well-being services including clinics, counselling, education and information.
TASCAHRD (TASMANIAN COUNCIL ON AIDS, HEPATITIS AND RELATED DISEASES)
TasCAHRD supports those living with or at risk of blood-borne viruses.
THORNE HARBOUR HEALTH
Victorian health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention & LGBTQIA health. Formerly the Victorian AIDS Council (VAC).
WAAC
Western Australian health promotion organisation specialising in HIV prevention & LGBTQIA health. Formerly the WA AIDS Council.
GOVERNMENT
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL
The Australian Research Council is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than A$800 million in grants each year.
BBVSS (BBV AND STI STANDING COMMITTEE)
The BBVSS provides strategic advice to the Health Chief Executives Forum as part of a coordinated response to BBV and STI across Australia.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
DFAT
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
HIV TASKFORCE
Established in 2023, the HIV Taskforce examines opportunities to eliminate HIV transmission in Australia and provide advice to the Australian Government.
MACBBVSTI (MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON BBV AND STI)
MACBBVSTI is the Australian Government’s key advisory body on the national response and management of BBV and STI.
NHMRC (NATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL)
The main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research.
BBV AND STI TERMINOLOGY
ART (ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY)
The treatment for HIV. ART involves taking a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen) every day.
BBV AND STI (BLOOD BORNE VIRUSES AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS)
BBV includes HIV, hepatitis B and C, and STI includes trichomonas, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis.
BIOMEDICAL PREVENTION
Term used to describe the use of medical interventions to prevent HIV transmission or acquisition.
HIV SELF TESTING / HOME TESTING
An HIV antibody test that can be used at home or in a private location.
MICROBICIDE
Anything that kills or disables microbes (such as viruses or bacteria).
PEP (POST-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS)
PEP is a course of antiviral medication to prevent HIV infection if someone suspects they may have been exposed to the virus.
PLWHIV (PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV)
The term ‘living with HIV’ is used to describe a positive diagnosis, because when a HIV positive person is on treatment, they can live as long and as healthy a life as a person who is HIV negative.
POCT (POINT OF CARE TESTING)
A test that is performed where the analysis is completed close to the patient rather than in the traditional clinical laboratory. It allows a result to be returned rapidly, so the person administrating the test can make an immediate, informed decision about patient care.
PREP (PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS)
PrEP is an antiviral medicine taken by a person who does not have HIV to lower their chance of infection. PrEP is available in pill form, long-acting injectables, vaginal rings, and other delivery mechanisms.
RAPID HIV TESTING
Rapid HIV tests. Rapid Testing uses a pinprick of the finger (or oral fluid, depending on the test) and returns results within 10 to 20 minutes.
TASP (TREATMENT AS PREVENTION)
Refers to taking HIV medicine to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.
TRUVADA
Trade name of emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, the combination drug currently approved in PrEP to prevent the transmission of HIV.
U=U (UNDETECTABLE EQUALS UNTRANSMISSIBLE)
Refers to the fact that people who take antiretroviral therapy for HIV daily as prescribed, and who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load, cannot sexually transmit the virus to an HIV-negative partner.
UVL (UNDETECTABLE VIRAL LOAD)
HIV medication works by reducing the amount of the virus in the blood to undetectable levels. This is called having an undetectable viral load or being undetectable.