Family Planning Queensland
Encyclopedia
FPQ is a not-for-profit Queensland organisation offering clinical, education, and information services through its nine regional centres. FPQ also provides clinical training in all aspects of sexual and reproductive health, and has a comprehensive resource catalogue to support teachers, parents and young people. It offers clinical services, sexual education for school children and adults, and sexual health information services in its nine branches across Queensland. It is a member of the national Family Planning network Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia (SH&FPA), which is the Australian
national affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation
. FPQ’s tagline is Sexual and Reproductive Health for All.
Queensland remained relatively conservative, especially about sexuality. Sexuality education in schools was minimal, teenage pregnancy in Queensland was the highest in Australia, abortion was illegal and access to contraception was limited. Marriage was usually a pre-requisite for contraceptive counselling.
In 1970, the Queensland branch of the Abortion Law Reform Association (later Children by Choice) was formed, and along with the Queensland branch of Women’s Electoral Lobby started campaigning for family planning facilities, sex education in schools and legal and safe abortion.
Within this context, FPQ was formed following a 2 day conference with the joint sponsorship of the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Its aims were to provide clinic and training facilities, and to make information freely available.
The first FPQ clinic opened in Fortitude Valley in March 1972 with the aid of volunteer members. Voluntary committees established services in Cairns, Townsville, and Rockhampton later in 1972, and at the Gold Coast the following year. In 1974, with funding provided by the Commonwealth government, clinics opened in Ipswich and Mt Gravatt. The Toowoomba and Sunshine Coast centres were established in 1986 and 1989 respectively.
Today FPQ works in nine regional centres located in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast. From these sites FPQ provides a range of clinical, education, training and information services in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
FPQ is also funded by different departments of the Queensland Government to coordinate specific projects ranging from the Correctional Facilities Education Project to the counselling services provided to children and families by the Cairns Sexual Assault Service. FPQ supplements revenue through education, clinic and training service fees; resource and product sales; and venue hire. In addition, FPQ receives financial support from individual members and donors.
FPQ nurses and doctors support young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships. 21,663 people visited FPQ’s clinics across Queensland during 2009. Within these clinics, FPQ offers a number of services related to contraception
, such as:
It also provides sexual health checks for its patients. These checks can include:
Other services offered by FPQ clinics include:
Their educators provide sexual information for primary and high school students, tertiary students, parents and families, youth groups, people with disabilities and their carers, older people, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other community groups.
FPQ also offers professional training for medical practitioners, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, teachers and childcare workers, health and welfare workers, youth workers, and disability workers. In 2009, 23,053 health professionals participated in the FPQ’s workforce program, and 37,370 people participated in its community education programs.
In addition to this, FPQ has a reference library of sexual health information in its Fortitude Valley headquarters, and also produces brochures, posters, fact sheets, videos, books and other educational resources.
Focus areas
• Clinical services: provides both direct health services and training for health professionals. Key health services include specialised contraception consultations and procedures; sexual health checks; Pap smears; pregnancy testing and counselling; menopause management and a range of reproductive health consultations. Workforce development for doctors and nurses working in various settings in sexual and reproductive health -- particularly general practice -- is provided through courses and supervised clinical training in FPQ clinics. FPQ is a lead contributor to the Contraception Handbook, the national guide to contraception in Australia.
• Education services: provides workforce development for community, education and disability professionals in sexuality and relationships education; and educational resource development from the award winning Everyone’s got a bottom to Every body needs to know. Community education programs are also run for parents, carers, young people and people with disabilities. FPQ also manages a number of projects ranging from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people project to the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevention project.
• Sexual assault service (Cairns only): delivers counselling, intervention and support to children, women and men who have experienced sexual assault and abuse; community awareness, education and prevention of sexual assault.
• Communications: develops factsheets, brochures, and web-based resources to support the community’s information needs around sexual and reproductive health.
One major criticism of sexual education during that period was that it would encourage students to engage in unsafe sex practices. Morality campaigner Rona Joyner was quoted as saying that ‘sex education and pornography are synonymous’. Professor James Likoudis, a former Catholic priest, also opposed the sexual education push, claiming that sex education corrupts children.
The work of FPQ led the reluctant Queensland Government to allow the screening of films about sexuality in 1981, and these films paved the way for the introduction of FPQ-run sex education classes into primary and secondary Queensland schools. Roxanne Davis, an FPQ coordinator, described the response to these classes from the majority of students as being ‘overwhelmingly positive’.
Today, FPQ receives great support in Queensland newspapers, and visits to the FPQ clinics are at an all-time high of 21,663 people per year. The not-for-profit organization continues to operate successfully after over 25 years of service to the people of Queensland.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
national affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation
International Planned Parenthood Federation
The International Planned Parenthood Federation is a global non-governmental organization with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family planning. It was first formed in 1952 in Bombay, India, and now...
. FPQ’s tagline is Sexual and Reproductive Health for All.
History
The oral contraceptive pill became available in Australia in 1961 against a backdrop of great social and political change. Until 1969 however, New South Wales was the only state to offer family planning services through the Family Planning Association of Australia. In the subsequent few years, independent family planning associations were formed in all the other states.Queensland remained relatively conservative, especially about sexuality. Sexuality education in schools was minimal, teenage pregnancy in Queensland was the highest in Australia, abortion was illegal and access to contraception was limited. Marriage was usually a pre-requisite for contraceptive counselling.
In 1970, the Queensland branch of the Abortion Law Reform Association (later Children by Choice) was formed, and along with the Queensland branch of Women’s Electoral Lobby started campaigning for family planning facilities, sex education in schools and legal and safe abortion.
Within this context, FPQ was formed following a 2 day conference with the joint sponsorship of the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Its aims were to provide clinic and training facilities, and to make information freely available.
The first FPQ clinic opened in Fortitude Valley in March 1972 with the aid of volunteer members. Voluntary committees established services in Cairns, Townsville, and Rockhampton later in 1972, and at the Gold Coast the following year. In 1974, with funding provided by the Commonwealth government, clinics opened in Ipswich and Mt Gravatt. The Toowoomba and Sunshine Coast centres were established in 1986 and 1989 respectively.
Today FPQ works in nine regional centres located in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast. From these sites FPQ provides a range of clinical, education, training and information services in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
Funding
The majority of FPQ’s funding comes from Queensland Health, a department of the Queensland Government. With this funding, FPQ provides a comprehensive range of clinical, educational and training activities and resources on sexual and reproductive health.FPQ is also funded by different departments of the Queensland Government to coordinate specific projects ranging from the Correctional Facilities Education Project to the counselling services provided to children and families by the Cairns Sexual Assault Service. FPQ supplements revenue through education, clinic and training service fees; resource and product sales; and venue hire. In addition, FPQ receives financial support from individual members and donors.
Services
FPQ offers a range of sexual and reproductive health services to the wider population of Queensland. FPQ offers clinical, education and training services from metropolitan and regional locations throughout the state.FPQ Mission
To promote and achieve sexual and reproductive health for all.This will be achieved through excellence in clinical services, education, and research and policy development.The services offered by FPQ can be divided in to two sections: Clinical and Educational.Clinical Services
FPQ’s clinics support women and men of all ages. FPQ offers confidential sexual and reproductive health services.FPQ nurses and doctors support young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships. 21,663 people visited FPQ’s clinics across Queensland during 2009. Within these clinics, FPQ offers a number of services related to contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
, such as:
- emergency contraceptionEmergency contraceptionEmergency contraception , or emergency postcoital contraception, refers to birth control measures that, if taken after sexual intercourse, may prevent pregnancy.Forms of EC include:...
- hormonal contraception methods including pills, implants and injections
- diaphragmDiaphragm (contraceptive)The diaphragm is a cervical barrier type of birth control. It is a soft latex or silicone dome with a spring molded into the rim. The spring creates a seal against the walls of the vagina.-Use:...
fitting - assessment for and fitting of Intrauterine deviceIntrauterine deviceA copper IUD is a type of intrauterine device. Most IUDs have a plastic T- or U-shaped frame which is wrapped in copper wire, with the exception of Gynefix, which is a plastic string with several copper beads, affixed to the fundus of the uterus...
s (IUD) - vasectomyVasectomyVasectomy is a surgical procedure for male sterilization and/or permanent birth control. During the procedure, the vasa deferentia of a man are severed, and then tied/sealed in a manner such to prevent sperm from entering into the seminal stream...
It also provides sexual health checks for its patients. These checks can include:
- testing and treatment for sexually transmissible infections (STISTI-Institutes:*Sega Technical Institute*Semantic Technology Institute International, a scientific and research network; also some of its members call themselves STI*Southern Technical Institute—a university in Marietta, Georgia, USA...
s) - HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
testing - STI prevention services
Other services offered by FPQ clinics include:
- pap smearPap smearThe Papanicolaou test is a screening test used in to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the endocervical canal of the female reproductive system. Changes can be treated, thus preventing cervical cancer...
s - breast examinations
- pre-pregnancy planning
- pregnancy testing and counselling
- menopause assessment and information
- sub fertility assessment and information
- sexual difficulties assessment and information
- assessment of menstrual problems
Educational Services
FPQ acknowledges parents/carers as the primary sexuality educators of their children. FPQ’s family sexuality education programs are designed to build communication between parents/carers and their children.Their educators provide sexual information for primary and high school students, tertiary students, parents and families, youth groups, people with disabilities and their carers, older people, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other community groups.
FPQ also offers professional training for medical practitioners, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, teachers and childcare workers, health and welfare workers, youth workers, and disability workers. In 2009, 23,053 health professionals participated in the FPQ’s workforce program, and 37,370 people participated in its community education programs.
In addition to this, FPQ has a reference library of sexual health information in its Fortitude Valley headquarters, and also produces brochures, posters, fact sheets, videos, books and other educational resources.
Locations
Today FPQ works in nine regional centres located in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast. From these sites FPQ provides a range of clinical, education, training and information services in the area of sexual and reproductive health.Current Activities
Family Planning Queensland’s key programs and servicesFocus areas
• Clinical services: provides both direct health services and training for health professionals. Key health services include specialised contraception consultations and procedures; sexual health checks; Pap smears; pregnancy testing and counselling; menopause management and a range of reproductive health consultations. Workforce development for doctors and nurses working in various settings in sexual and reproductive health -- particularly general practice -- is provided through courses and supervised clinical training in FPQ clinics. FPQ is a lead contributor to the Contraception Handbook, the national guide to contraception in Australia.
• Education services: provides workforce development for community, education and disability professionals in sexuality and relationships education; and educational resource development from the award winning Everyone’s got a bottom to Every body needs to know. Community education programs are also run for parents, carers, young people and people with disabilities. FPQ also manages a number of projects ranging from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people project to the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevention project.
• Sexual assault service (Cairns only): delivers counselling, intervention and support to children, women and men who have experienced sexual assault and abuse; community awareness, education and prevention of sexual assault.
• Communications: develops factsheets, brochures, and web-based resources to support the community’s information needs around sexual and reproductive health.
Criticism
In the 1970s and early 1980s, conservative commentators and politicians criticised organizations like FPQ for offering sexual education in schools. One notable critic of sex education was the then Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who made this assessment of New South Wales’ sex education programs in March 1981:- NSW has become an object lesson in so many ways for other States on what you must not do if you wish to maintain decent standards. Morally, the subject [of sexual education] is fraught with danger for any government.
One major criticism of sexual education during that period was that it would encourage students to engage in unsafe sex practices. Morality campaigner Rona Joyner was quoted as saying that ‘sex education and pornography are synonymous’. Professor James Likoudis, a former Catholic priest, also opposed the sexual education push, claiming that sex education corrupts children.
- It is time to stop the senseless experimentation with children and the exploitation of children by so-called professional educators who seek to use the school for their own ideological ends…Sex education has its origins in the efforts of family planners to impose contraceptive- abortion- population control society upon all, through the schools.
Praise
The progressiveness of FPQ has drawn praise from several media commentators. In a feature in a November 1997 issue of The Australian Magazine, Kate Legge says that ‘Queensland bucks its reputation as a conservative redneck State with the cutting-edge sex education program [offered by FPQ]’.The work of FPQ led the reluctant Queensland Government to allow the screening of films about sexuality in 1981, and these films paved the way for the introduction of FPQ-run sex education classes into primary and secondary Queensland schools. Roxanne Davis, an FPQ coordinator, described the response to these classes from the majority of students as being ‘overwhelmingly positive’.
Today, FPQ receives great support in Queensland newspapers, and visits to the FPQ clinics are at an all-time high of 21,663 people per year. The not-for-profit organization continues to operate successfully after over 25 years of service to the people of Queensland.
External links
- The Family Planning Queensland website: http://www.fpq.com.au/
- The Sexual Health and Family Planning Association of Australia website: http://www.shfpa.org.au/
- The University of Queensland Fryer Library archive of FPQ: http://library.uq.edu.au/search~S7?/XFAmily+Planning+Queensland&SORT=A&b=fy/XFAmily+Planning+Queensland&SORT=A&b=fy&SUBKEY=FAmily%20Planning%20Queensland/1%2C13%2C13%2CB/frameset&FF=XFAmily+Planning+Queensland&SORT=A&b=fy&1%2C1%2C