HEP CURED 2026 is touring NSW!

As part of NSW Hepatitis Awareness Week, leading into World Hepatitis Day on 28 July and beyond, Hepatitis NSW is delivering our annual hep C health promotion campaign throughout July. HEP CURED includes a wide range of awareness-raising, health promotion and testing events, as well as NSW-wide advertising across multiple platforms and settings, including our popular mobile mural, train station billboards, regional bus panels, washroom posters and social media.

The success of the campaign rests on the combination of statewide HEP CURED advertising with local outreach, testing and community engagement.  There is something for everyone, no matter where in NSW they live.

For information and event dates, visit: hep.org.au/get-involved/hepcured/

Last year’s HEP CURED campaign was highly successful, taking a clear and positive message to communities across NSW: hep C treatment is a game changer, and cure is possible.  We expect to have the same success this year.

With the HEP CURED mobile billboards travelling across metropolitan and regional NSW again, visiting hospitals, community centres, alcohol and other drug services, pharmacies, correctional settings and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, it will be easy to part of the campaign.  Local Health District staff, Hepatitis NSW peer workers, NUAA and partner services are set to work together again to offer dried blood spot (DBS) testing, point-of-care testing, FibroScans, health promotion stalls and practical conversations about treatment and support.

This year’s campaign reach will cover from Redfern and Blacktown to Wagga Wagga, Goulburn, Kempsey, Lismore and beyond. With peer-led engagement, useful, branded merchandise and strong local partnerships, HEP CURED helps make hep C testing and treatment more visible, accessible and reassuring for communities.  All available near where people live and where they feel comfortable.

LiverCare education with Blacktown Filipino community

Earlier this month, Hepatitis NSW spent a fantastic couple of hours running a small education workshop with members of the Filipino community in Blacktown. The focus was hep B and the ways the virus impacts their community. As the third-largest group living with hep B in Australia, it is important for us to get out into the community to share key messages, bust myths, encourage testing, and build community trust. The workshop was so successful that we have organised a return visit to provide our flagship LiverCare hep B testing program later this year.

Strengthening Connections: Highlights from the Hepatitis Australia Peer and Community Summit

Hepatitis Australia hosted a two-day summit at Brisbane’s The Gardens Club. The summit brought together peers, community workers and advocates from across every state and territory, creating a space for collaborative and inspiring discussions.

We shared ideas, experiences and learnings, working together to address gaps and strengthen the support we provide to communities. Resources were also showcased, including Hepatitis SA’s ‘Give Hep C the Finger’ postcards and information on peer support networks and services that provide free training.

There were also practical tips for outreach and linking participants with clinical care after testing. Willis, Hepatitis NSW’s Hepatitis B and Multicultural Liver Health Project Officer, presented on LiverCare. LiverCare is a culturally and linguistically diverse community-focused sub-study under the Kirby Institute’s national hepatitis C point-of-care testing program, delivering in-community hep B and hep C testing and FibroScan screening, with liver clinic nurses present to support immediate results review and direct linkage into tertiary care services.

Gracie, Hepatitis NSW’s HepLink DBS Project Officer, detailed a peer-led dried blood spot (DBS) model designed to bring rapid testing into community outreach settings and foster trust to overcome stigma. The presentation highlighted clinical pathways and sustained, long-term support to ensure participants are successfully linked to care and treatment.

Thanks to Hepatitis Australia for the opportunity to share experiences, skills and ideas with our brilliant partner organisations from across the country.

Mongolian Family Fun Day

Hepatitis NSW had a ball at the Mongolian Family Fun Day, on Sunday 7 June, meeting families big and small, learning about Mongolian culture and experiences, as well as sharing information on hepatitis B and liver health.

The Mongolian community is one of the youngest culturally and linguistically diverse communities we work with, and this family event was packed with activities tailored for young families, children and young people.

To help engage with the community, we brought along toys and bubble machines to keep the children happy. While they played, we chatted with the parents about liver health and invited them to take our hep B quiz: “What do you know about hep B?”

The community’s awareness and understanding of hep B was strong. We will continue to collaborate closely with the Mongolian community and are developing health resources in the Mongolian language.

Community Engagement with Aboriginal Health Practitioners

​​This community workshop uses a strengths-based approach to explore hep C prevention, testing, treatment, stigma, and the broader social and cultural factors that influence health outcomes for Aboriginal people in NSW. Aligned with the principles of culturally safe care, health promotion and chronic disease management, this collaboration between the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council and Hepatitis NSW supports workforce development and improved pathways to care for Mob. There was a positive response to the event with 18 Aboriginal Health Practitioners attending. 

Yarning with Community about BBVs and STIs

In partnership with The Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) and South-Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD), Hepatitis NSW supported a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and blood borne virus (BBV) Community Check-Up with a local football team.

The event provided a culturally safe and accessible opportunity for Aboriginal men to engage in preventive health care, health education and screening. A total of 30 community members attended, with 28 completing STI testing and 16 undertaking dried blood spot (DBS) testing for hep C.

The initiative demonstrated the value of community-led engagement, trusted partnerships and delivering health services in familiar settings to improve access to testing and support early intervention for Mob.

Anwernekenhe Conference

Chantell, Hepatitis NSW’s Administration Officer, recently attended the Anwernekenhe Conference – a landmark national gathering focused on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander response to HIV, hep C and sexual health. Meaning “us mob meeting here in this place” in the Arrernte language, the conference has brought communities, peer workers and health professionals together since it was first held outside Alice Springs in 1994.

During the conference, Chantell joined a panel of community leaders to speak about peer leadership and hep C. She shared her lived experience and highlighted the value of peer-led education, reducing stigma, and improving access to information, testing, and treatment.

Tx! MAG #48 is out!

In this latest edition, Jono is keen for Adam to join the local Men’s Shed, but Adam is not into the idea. He is also not into talking about his health. Jono does not give up, and soon Adam finds himself doing more talking than he could have imagined.

The second story introduces us to Gerrard and his passion: tenpin bowling. But when that passion is threatened by hep C, he starts researching. It does not take him long to find hep.org.au and the answers he seeks.

This edition has our usual puzzles, a competition and a survey. Readers can go in the draw to win a $100 Coles/Myer voucher for both the survey (p.14) and competition (p.26), so fill them out and send them in. No postage is required!

You can subscribe to Tx! MAG for free here and/or read this and past editions here. 

New Hep C Telehealth Service

The new Hep C Telehealth Service is a Medicare bulk-billed national service that helps you or your clients access hep C treatment by phone. The service supports people with consultations, pathology testing for hep C, prescribing medication if needed, and confirming cure.

No referral is needed.

To access the service, go to www.heplink.au/book_telehealth

Or call 1800 437 222.

Hepatology Nurses’ Masterclass

Hepatitis NSW team members were once again invited to attend one of the best events on the BBV/STI calendar: the Hepatology Nurses Masterclass. This annual event is in its twenty first year and is always a great opportunity to connect with the many incredible hepatology nurses across NSW who we are lucky to work alongside, and who do so much to look after our communities. The event was engaging, with many interesting topics, including a presentation on liver transplant from a person with lived experience, hep D, advanced liver disease, and metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

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