About Us
The National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR) was established in 1990 with funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, Australia. We are located within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at The University of New South Wales, Sydney.
NCHSR is internationally recognised for its contribution to the Australian response to HIV and hepatitis C. While the core of its work has been in social aspects of HIV, particularly in regard to sexual practice, in recent years the NCHSR research program has expanded to include social research related to hepatitis C, injecting and illicit drug use, sexual health, Aboriginal health and the Asia-Pacific region.
NCHSR is highly regarded for its multidisciplinary approach, quality and range of work, timeliness of research findings, and engagement with those communities most affected by HIV, STIs and hepatitis C. NCHSR's core-funded strategic research has been strengthened by its location within an academic environment and the attendant scholarship and culture that entails. This has ensured research that is intellectually rigorous and valued by key decision makers.
Past and current NCHSR projects have focused on one or more of the following areas:
- Mapping of risk and practice
- Negotiating the medical field
- Cultural, social and political dynamics
- Community engagement and research transfer
NCHSR has a budget of nearly $3 million per year, spread over a large range of research projects. NCHSR currently employs over twenty research staff, working on either core or externally funded projects. They are supported by about eight technical and administrative staff. Core funding is received from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, and competitive grants from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, AusAID, state health departments and other funding bodies.
| Our mission |
NCHSR's mission is to inform and shape policy and practice through exemplary, reflexive and collaborative scholarly research regarding the social aspects of HIV infection, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections.
| Our values |
| Excellence: NCHSR is a national and international leader in the field of social research, with a history of exemplary scholarly work exploring the social aspects of risk, prevention, treatment and care. Our research reflects our commitment to rigorous, world-class academic standards. |
| Best practice: Our research is consistent with the health promotion framework of the Ottawa Charter and with the guiding principles of the national strategies pertaining to HIV infection, viral hepatitis and sexual health. |
| Inclusion: NCHSR is committed to a research agenda that acknowledges individuals and communities as social beings. This perspective locates the agency of individuals within relational networks of culture, community and collectives that generate social understandings, meanings and practices. |
| Collaboration and engagement: We work together at the national and international levels with government departments and committees, community organisations and other researchers including social and public health scientists, epidemiologists and human rights lawyers. We undertake our research with the intention of informing and influencing the development of programs and the implementation of policy. |
| Interdisciplinarity: Our staff and students come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, psychology, cultural studies, public health and medicine. This diversity has been a key ingredient in the success of NCHSR. |
| Respect: NCHSR is committed to a research framework that is reflexive, collaborative, responsive and respectful of the rights, agency and subjectivity of affected communities. Our research acknowledges the value of co-participation of researchers and researched in research activities, and draws on the diverse experience of co-participants. |
| Advocacy: Our research necessitates a focus on marginalised and disadvantaged communities affected by HIV infection, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections. As we work alongside these communities, our research provides a medium through which their voices are heard. |
| Our collaborators |
The National Centre in HIV Social Research collaborates with a wide range of national and international research partners and community organisations. A selection of these organisations is listed below. For a full list of collaborating organisations, please see our Annual Report.
Collaborating research centres
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society
Australian Centre for Health Promotion
Burnet Institute
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco
Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria
HIV Social, Behavioural and Epidemiological Studies Unit, University of Toronto
PNG Institute of Medical Research
The Initiative for Health and Human Rights, UNSW
National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research
National Drug Research Institute
Social Policy Research Centre
The Sax Institute
Thomas Coram Research Unit, University of London
Collaborating partner organisations
Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW
AIDS Action Council of ACT
AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON)
AIDS Council of South Australia
AusAID: Australia’s Global HIV/AIDS Initiative
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
Australasian Society for HIV Medicine
Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League
Hepatitis Australia
Cancer Council, NSW
Hepatitis C Council of New South Wales
National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS
NT AIDS and Hepatitis Council
Positive Heterosexuals (Pozhet)
Positive Life NSW
Queensland Association for Healthy Communities
Scarlet Alliance
Victorian AIDS Council / Gay Men's Health Centre
Western Australian AIDS Council
