Hot Topics

These topics were suggested by health practitioner interviewee and workshop participants who participated in the Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual and Reproductive Health research between 2022-2024.

This page is a work –in-progress and was last updated in December 2024. Upcoming topics for 2025 will include ‘Everyday AI and sexual and reproductive health’ and ‘Explicit sexual entertainment content and sexual and reproductive health’

Please send feedback (and suggestions for new hot topics) to [email protected]

What role does commercial/private technology play in sexual and reproductive health?

Commercial and private companies – including tech start-ups – increasingly play a role in sexual and reproductive health.

Commercial digital sexual health technologies include private online STI testing services, dating apps, menstruation apps and sex toys. Commercial software platforms (ie. Microsoft) are also used to collect and store patient data.

Almost all of these technologies collect data every time they are used.

Data can be actively entered by users – for example, menstrual apps users upload the length of a cycle, and other information (including symptoms experienced) for self-tracking purposes. But most apps collect data ‘passively’ as well – such as user location or the duration of app use.

This data can be used for a range of purposes – including advertising, research, or policing/surveillance. These uses may be stated in the initial ‘Terms of Use and Terms of Service’, or they may be altered according to the commercial interests of the companies that own the technologies. Health data may also be aggregated with data collected from other sources – for example social media and retail platforms.

Both individual sexual and reproductive health practitioners and organisations, should consider the ethical, privacy and security implications of engaging with commercial actors who provide SRH care and information.

Currently such platforms and devices are unregulated in Australia, and the Privacy Act is under review. Additionally, while both tech companies and health researchers have suggested that digital health platforms will increase health care access for populations who are excluded from existing health care services, recent research has shown that this is often not the case.

This does not mean that tech/health partnerships are a no-go. However, our research suggests that they should be approached with caution, and due diligence in terms of potential user privacy and security risks.

Why do young adults seek sexual and reproductive health content online?

Our participants actively sought information about the accessibility of local healthcare providers. They also sought accounts of their peers’ ‘lived experience’ that helped them better understand specific health conditions (such as endometriosis) or procedures (such as IUD insertion).

Participants also described how their sexual, gender and reproductive health and wellbeing was supported opportunistically through participation in collective spaces and affinity-based communities on social media.

Health was not always the organising focus of these spaces – for example, sites mentioned included punk Facebook groups and gamer Discord chats. This meant that participants were not always actively and purposefully seeking out health information. Instead, they encountered (and shared) support and advice through everyday participation in trusted (but often anonymous) communities with shared interests, desires and experiences.

I would be hesitant to say that a lot of young people are coming into clinics having seen one TikTok video… But, I think to reduce that down to a young person is identifying that source of information was social media initially, and assuming that one thirty second clip of somebody catastrophising a bunch of symptoms was all they looked at, I think this is where some of the miscommunication happens.

– Jaqueline (24, cis woman, bisexual)

Do young people want health providers to ‘give advice’ or ‘bust myths’ in online communities?

Participants suggested it is not always necessary or ethical for healthcare professionals to be present in these digital platforms or communities themselves.

However, it IS desirable for healthcare professionals to have a contextual awareness of the different ways young adults might access health information and support – and suspend their judgement about the ‘quality’ of social media content.

Participants were aware that the information available online was not always accurate and/ or could catastrophise sexual health concerns. However, they suggested that healthcare providers could bridge this gap by taking health consumers’ concerns and information-seeking experiences seriously during clinical consultations:

You can read more about participants insights (including platforms and technologies used) in our Stage Two research report.

I think maybe just being aware of the different ways people are getting the information…I guess they need to be aware so they might be able to say ‘okay is this something you may have seen talked about on social media?’ and just use that as a gateway to investigating rather than staying up to date with the content themselves.

– Alexandra (23, cis woman, straight)