19 April 2026
On Thursday, 12 March 2026, we hosted the first of six webinars for our new Community of Practice supporting hepatitis C elimination in regional and remote Australia.
Join the Community of Practice
The session focused on peer–nurse partnerships and how they are reshaping hepatitis C care in communities that face complex barriers to care.‑to‑reach settings Two established models — from the Northern Territory and Western Australia — were showcased, offering practical, real-world‑ examples of how peer leadership and shared care can close the gap between testing and treatment.
One message was clear throughout: trust-based, flexible models are improving access to care for people who are often excluded from traditional health systems.
Thank you to our speakers (who you’ll meet below) and our webinar hosts Peta Gava, Peer Based Harm Reduction WA and Alex Wade, Mid North Coast Liver Clinic, Drug and Alcohol Services NSW.
Key takeaways from each speaker
MODEL OF CARE 1: From monthly clinics to trusted weekly pathways: Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council (NTAHC)
Presenting from Darwin, Sal Endemann, Heplink Support Officer / Peer Worker, and Anngie Everitt, Darwin Hepatitis Clinic Nurse, from NTAHC described a peer–nurse partnership that has evolved over five years to meet the needs of people who inject drugs and others affected by hepatitis C.
The model was developed in response to the limitations of a once-a-month clinic operating at the local needle and syringe program. While community demand was high, infrequent clinics and rigid schedules meant people were often disengaged by the time services were available.
The solution was a shift to weekly, walk-in, peer-supported clinics, backed by outreach and strong integration with the local health service.
Anngie stepped through the clinical components of the partnership, including blood collection, point-of-care testing, fibroscans, prescribing treatment, and navigating referrals for imaging, oncology and other specialist services. All of which is done in partnership with Sal.
“Peers are not the support, they’re the access to the pathway into hep C care,” Anngie said.
Trust built through the model often leads to broader re‑engagement with health care, including GP visits, cancer screening and chronic disease management.
“For some people, this is their first positive experience in a medical environment for a very long time,” Sal explained.
Sal described the peer role as central to keeping people engaged over time. Drawing on her lived experience, she explained how long-term relationships and local knowledge help people feel safe enough to walk through the door — and keep coming back.
The team shared a client story that illustrated this approach: a young woman with complex mental health needs, unstable housing and prior hepatitis C treatment, who had been very hesitant to engage in further care. Through peer disclosure, ongoing support and reassurance that hepatitis C treatment would not interfere with her substance use, the partnership was able to support her through treatment and beyond. She later encouraged her friends to be tested, resulting in further diagnoses and treatment.
A key to this partnership, which was reinforced by Sal and Anngie is that everyone here, is an equal. And this approach has led to ongoing sustainability and employment for both nurse and peer.
MODEL OF CARE 2: Checking your ego at the door with Peer Based Harm Reduction WA
The second model presented came from Peer Based Harm Reduction WA, with Julie Byrne-King, South West Nurse, Nurse Practitioner Candidate and Maxine Kent, Hep C Case Management Worker, sharing their experience delivering peer-nurse care across Perth and the vast southwest of the state.
In contrast to more traditional models, this approach places clinicians inside peer-led environments, including fixed-site clinics within needle and syringe programs and mobile outreach vans operating across hundreds of kilometres.
Julie described how this reversal of the usual hierarchy changes everything — from trust, to access, to decision making.
“Checking your ego at the door is a huge thing,” she said. “As a nurse, I’m being allowed into spaces I wouldn’t normally get access to, and you’ve got to recognise that there’s no authority that should be higher.”
Maxine shared a story of a client who had disengaged from services entirely. Rather than pushing clinical care, she began visiting regularly, dropping off water and juice, and checking in without expectation.
“He’d disengaged from the service, so I just kept going back,” she explained. Over time, trust was rebuilt, a nurse was introduced, wounds were treated, and hepatitis C testing and re‑engagement followed.
Both presenters emphasised that outreach in regional WA often means seeing very few people initially (sometimes only one) and returning again and again to the same location before trust is established.
Continuing the conversation
This webinar marked the first in a six-part Community of Practice series focusing on hepatitis C care in regional and remote Australia. Find out more and join the Community of Practice here.
Shared lessons and learnings
- Peers are the pathway, not an add‑on — lived experience creates access where systems cannot
- Trust comes before treatment, especially for people with past negative healthcare experiences
- Power must be shared, with nurses and peers working as equals
- Care must go beyond cure, supporting people’s broader health and social needs
- Humility and flexibility matter, particularly in regional and remote settings
Speakers were candid about the challenges: funding uncertainty, staff burnout, long travel distances, and the difficulty of evidencing outcomes that fall outside traditional clinical indicators. Still, both teams stressed that the learning never stops, and that adaptability is essential to success.
