Thursday, 2 April 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (19:07): (2479) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I am seeking is for an urgent funding package to ensure Melbourne Sexual Health Centre can continue providing free walk-in testing and treatment services. Last week the Age reported that Victoria’s most significant public sexual health clinic has ended its free walk-in testing and treatment service, not because it was not needed but because chronic underfunding meant it could not keep up with demand. Last year they turned away more than 4000 patients because they just did not have the capacity.

STI rates in Victoria have been steadily rising since the early 2000s. Syphilis, a condition that would have been considered extremely uncommon here in the early 1990s, has become a major problem, as I have spoken about previously in this place, including increasing congenital syphilis rates. Gonorrhoea is on the rise, specifically antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea, which means it is also becoming harder to treat. Chlamydia, Victoria’s most common STI among young people, is steadily increasing, with many cases going unreported. These STIs can be completely asymptomatic but can lead to complications like infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, dementia, congenital abnormalities or foetal death.

These conditions are preventable and readily treatable, but they need to be tested for early to prevent further spread and complications. Prevention and early intervention are always more effective and cheaper than reactive care, but sexual health remains highly stigmatised, meaning that easily accessible, confidential and affordable care is critical. Melbourne Sexual Health Centre’s walk-in clinic was the most significant public clinic in the state that provided exactly that. People who wanted privacy, who perhaps did not have a Medicare card because they were travelling or sleeping rough or who could not afford private care were able to access testing and treatment. Labor’s funding neglect has forced the closure of this vital public service at a time when infections are on the rise and people have less money in their pockets. The only remaining public services are the women’s sexual and reproductive health hubs, which predominantly focus on contraception and abortion and provide nowhere near the scale of testing and treatment for STIs that Melbourne Sexual Health Centre did. By comparison, New South Wales has over 50 well-resourced public sexual health clinics.

Why at a time of rising infections is Labor cutting funding to our most significant sexual health clinic? If people face barriers like cost or stigma, they simply will not get tested or treated until they have serious symptoms, leading to further spread and complications. The Allan Labor government must urgently increase funding for the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre so that Victorians can have access to the care they need without stigma or cost barriers.