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New open-access platform boosts digital and data capabilities for sexual and reproductive health sector
Author
Date 29 April 2025
A new open-access website, DDCSRH.com, is helping sexual and reproductive health organisations and workforces strengthen their digital and data capabilities.
Developed through three years of research led by Australian Research Council Future Fellow Prof Kath Albury and Dr Samantha Mannix both from Swinburne University of Technology’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, the Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual and Reproductive Health (DDCSRH) project offers practical, evidence-based resources to support digital transformation in the sector.
“We know that digital transformation is moving really fast,” Prof Albury.
“There are a lot of high level Commonwealth initiatives coming out in relation to workforce resourcing and upskilling, but they don’t necessarily focus on sexual and reproductive health contexts.
At the same time, the volatile geopolitical environment is having a serious impact on public health outreach. Social media content focused on reproductive health and sexual health is increasingly ‘shadow-banned’, censored, or maliciously tagged as ‘misinformation’.
Our aim is to help organisations build strategic conversations — helping managers and staff work out what they need, when they need it, and the resources that will help them get there.”
The platform offers a range of tailored tools, including:
- Models and checklists for building digital, data, and consumer capabilities
- Evidence-informed guides on emerging digital sexual and reproductive health topics
- Case studies grounded in recent Australian research
- Links to relevant policies and Commonwealth training hubs
DDCSRH.com is designed to guide strategic and productive dialogues between sexual and reproductive health professionals, managers and board members, community stakeholders and sexual and reproductive health consumers, with the aim of promoting ethical and inclusive approaches to digital transformation.
The resources are informed by interviews, workshops, and participatory research with young Australians exploring how platforms like HotDoc and TikTok influence sexual and reproductive health management.
DDCSRH.com is a collaboration between Australian and international researchers across clinical service provision, health promotion, social research, youth studies, digital health, and data studies.
The Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual and Reproductive Health project builds on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society’s previous research into data capabilities in the not-for-profit sector.
- Explore the new Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual and Reproductive Health platform at DDCSRH.com
- Watch YouTube Welcome to the DDCSRH resources
