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In Australia and elsewhere, chlamydia screening rates for those aged between 16 and 30 years continue to be low. Innovative, age-appropriate approaches are necessary to increase chlamydia screening among this target group to prevent short- and long-term consequences of the infection such as pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. Studies have demonstrated that offering chlamydia screening in community pharmacies may be a useful adjunct to current screening services. Approximately 90% of Australians visit a pharmacy at least once a year. Chlamydia screening and education in community pharmacies with remuneration may provide another option for opportunistic testing as part of a national chlamydia screening scheme. Compensation is an accepted practice in the field of research and has been demonstrated to improve adherence to health promotion activities. In 2011, a cross-sectional study of community pharmacy-based chlamydia screening offered in conjunction with an A$10 cash incentive to participate was conducted in the Australian Capital Territory. As part of this study young people were asked about their experience of, and views about, pharmacy-based chlamydia screening. The views of consented participants were collected using the one-page questionnaire consisting of 10 closed questions and one open-ended question. Participants completed the questionnaire when they returned their urine sample and before being given the cash incentive. Overall participants were highly satisfied with the pharmacy-based chlamydia screening service. Over 60% of questionnaire respondents felt that the payment did affect their decision to have the chlamydia test, and 23% stated that it made no difference. Young people reported that pharmacy-based screening is acceptable and convenient. Accessibility and the small cash incentive played significant roles in increasing participation.

Meeting the primary health care needs of an aging population is an increasing challenge for many Western nations. In Australia, the federal government introduced a program to develop, test, and evaluate nurse practitioner models in aged care settings. In this article, we present a documentary analysis of 32 project proposals awarded funding under the Nurse Practitioner-Aged Care Models of Practice Program. Successfully funded models were diverse and were operated by a range of organizations across Australia. We identified three key priorities as underlying the proposed models: "The right care," "in the right place," and "at the right time." In this article, we explore how these priorities were presented by different applicants in different ways. Through the presentation of their models, the program's applicants identified and proposed to address current gaps in health services. Applicants contrasted their proposed models with available services to create persuasive and competitive applications for funding., (© The Author(s) 2014.)

Objective: To determine the prevalence of patient-initiated aggression toward general practitioners in Australia., Design, Setting and Participants: A cross-sectional national survey, conducted during February-May 2010, of 3090 GPs in 19 Divisions of General Practice, purposively sampled to represent urban, rural and remote areas., Main Outcome Measure: Proportion of GPs experiencing patient-initiated aggression., Results: Eight-hundred and four GPs returned completed surveys (response rate, 26.3%). In the previous 12 months, 58% of GPs had experienced verbal abuse and 18% had experienced property damage or theft. Very few GPs had experienced physical abuse (6%), stalking (4%), sexual harassment (6%) or sexual assault (0.1%). After controlling for other demographic variables, GPs with fewer years of experience (P = 0.003), or who worked full-time or in larger practices (both P = 0.03) experienced significantly more verbal abuse than their counterparts, and GPs who worked full-time (P = 0.004) or in metropolitan areas (P = 0.01) experienced significantly more property damage or theft. Female GPs experienced significantly more sexual harassment than male GPs (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: This is the first national evidence of the prevalence of patient aggression toward GPs in Australia, which could inform the development of policies and guidelines that aim to reduce the prevalence of patient aggression toward GPs.

Background: Genital chlamydia is the most commonly notified sexually transmissible infection (STI) in Australia and worldwide and can have serious reproductive health outcomes. Partner notification, testing and treatment are important facets of chlamydia control. Traditional methods of partner notification are not reaching enough partners to effectively control transmission of chlamydia. Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) has been shown to improve the treatment of sexual partners. In Australia, General Practitioners (GPs) are responsible for the bulk of chlamydia testing, diagnosis, treatment and follow up. This study aimed to determine the views and practices of Australian general practitioners (GPs) in relation to partner notification and PDPT for chlamydia and explored GPs' perceptions of their patients' barriers to notifying partners of a chlamydia diagnosis., Methods: In-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 40 general practitioners (GPs) from rural, regional and urban Australia from November 2006 to March 2007. Topics covered: GPs' current practice and views about partner notification, perceived barriers and useful supports, previous use of and views regarding PDPT.Transcripts were imported into NVivo7 and subjected to thematic analysis. Data saturation was reached after 32 interviews had been completed., Results: Perceived barriers to patients telling partners (patient referral) included: stigma; age and cultural background; casual or long-term relationship, ongoing relationship or not. Barriers to GPs undertaking partner notification (provider referral) included: lack of time and staff; lack of contact details; uncertainty about the legality of contacting partners and whether this constitutes breach of patient confidentiality; and feeling both personally uncomfortable and inadequately trained to contact someone who is not their patient. GPs were divided on the use of PDPT--many felt concerned that it is not best clinical practice but many also felt that it is better than nothing.GPs identified the following factors which they considered would facilitate partner notification: clear clinical guidelines; a legal framework around partner notification; a formal chlamydia screening program; financial incentives; education and practical support for health professionals, and raising awareness of chlamydia in the community, in particular amongst young people., Conclusions: GPs reported some partners do not seek medical treatment even after they are notified of being a sexual contact of a patient with chlamydia. More routine use of PDPT may help address this issue however GPs in this study had negative attitudes to the use of PDPT. Appropriate guidelines and legislation may make the use of PDPT more acceptable to Australian GPs.

Objective: To describe the partner notification experiences of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia and to determine what supports might best assist them., Goal: To determine what supports might best assist chlamydia infected individuals to notify their partners., Study Design: A telephone survey was undertaken with men and women recently diagnosed with chlamydia across 3 Australian jurisdictions between August 2007 and January 2008., Results: Of the 286 individuals who agreed to be contacted about the study, 202 (71%) completed the survey. Twenty-three percent (333/1458) of recent partners were notified: men who had sex with men (MSM) notified 15% (133/880) of their partners, heterosexual men 31% (114/370), and women 46% (86/188) of their partners (P < 0.001). Overall, 84% (169/202) of individuals notified at least one partner. The main reasons for informing partners were out of concern for them (44%) or because it was considered "the right thing to do" (37%). The preferred methods for contacting partners were telephone (52%) and face-to-face (30%). E-mail (8%) and short message service (SMS) (11%) were less commonly used; however, if offered a website with anonymous e-mail and SMS services, nearly half of individuals indicated they would find this useful. Of those who had not informed all partners with known contact details (n = 94), 34% reported that if web-based tools were available they would have contacted more partners. Over half of participants would like to have been given antibiotics to give to their partner., Conclusion: The availability of tailored resources may assist in improving partner notification for chlamydia.

HPLC with UV and acidified potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection, combined with multivariate data analysis techniques, were used for the geographical classification of some Australian red (Cabernet Sauvignon) and white (Chardonnay) wines from two regions (Coonawarra and Geelong). Identification of the wine constituents prominent in the chromatography was performed by mass spectrometry. Principal components analysis and linear discriminant analysis were used to classify the wines according to region of production. Separation between regions was achieved with both detection systems and key components leading to discrimination of the wines were identified. Using two principal components, linear discriminant analysis with UV detection correctly classified 100% of the Chardonnay wines and, overall 91% of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines. With acidified potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection, 75% of the Chardonnay wines and 94% of the Cabernet Sauvignon wines were correctly classified using two factors.

Objective: To examine practices of general practitioners' (GPs) in relation to partner notification for chlamydia and identify the supports they would find most useful to assist them., Goal: To identify innovative resources that could improve partner notification for chlamydia in primary care., Study Design: A postal survey was undertaken that involved GPs from several jurisdictions across Australia between August and December 2007. GPs were randomly selected from a national database., Results: Of 521 eligible GPs, 234 (45%) returned a completed questionnaire. Ninety-five percent (n = 223) felt that it was their role to discuss partner notification with patients diagnosed with chlamydia; however, only 45% (105/232) were sure how best to assist their patients with this. Considerable variation was shown in the way partner notification was undertaken, including how far back in time GPs recommended contacting partners. GPs considered a wide range of possible resources useful, including a website supporting patients (90%), information sheets generated by practice software when chlamydia is diagnosed (90%), printed information packs for patients (85%), a website designed to assist GPs (80%), and referral to these websites via positive laboratory results (85%). Forty-three percent currently undertook patient delivered partner therapy for chlamydia., Conclusion: GPs want and need greater guidance and resources to assist them with partner notification for chlamydia. Resources utilizing the internet and practice software and mechanisms where GPs are automatically directed to these when chlamydia is diagnosed have wide appeal and the potential to improve the effectiveness of partner notification for chlamydia.

The issue of "equal health" for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples involves a broad range of social determinants, in addition to physical health. The formation of an Australian college of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health would allow a continuing authoritative conference of broad expert opinion, including that of Aboriginal health workers, to address health and social inequality.