A $200,000 grant from ViiV Healthcare Australia is boosting six community organisations and their grassroots projects aimed at reducing stigma and addressing barriers to HIV care, with Thorne Harbour Health set to expand its culturally safe First Nations program, Mob+.

Earlier this month, Thorne Harbour Health announced the expansion of Mob+, a peer-led program providing culturally safe care, connection, and wellbeing pathways for First Nations people living with HIV.

"It began when a small number of First Nations clients at the PLC identified the need for a culturally safe space, and took the lead in bringing that idea to life," Thorne Harbour Health's Positive Living Centre manager, Stephen Borg, explained.

"I often heard them speaking about the fact that they were quite isolated and felt like the only Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people in the room, and there was that need for connection and engagement in care.

"So out of those conversations, the idea for a Victorian peer network emerged, and rather than myself as manager and the team here at the PLC designing a program for community mob, Mob+ grew from the community itself. Those early participants really helped to shape the direction, the values and the activities focusing on culture, peer support and connection."

The expansion is made possible through a $200,000 grant from ViiV Healthcare Australia's 2025 Positive Action Community Grant (PACG) program given to six recipients, which supports innovative grassroots projects reaching those most affected by, or at risk of, HIV, particularly marginalised or underrepresented groups such as First Nations people living with HIV.

Mr Borg said the additional funding will be monumental in growing Mob+ from a small, informal peer network into a more structured and supportive program.

The funding has overseen the introduction of a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV peer worker role for Mob+. The position is designed to support the program's growth while ensuring it remains guided by First Nations leadership and lived experience.

"So the peer worker role will really focus on strengthening connections with community, supporting individuals to engage with care, facilitating yarning spaces, and I guess, helping to develop culturally grounded activities and partnerships," Mr Borg said.

"It means the program can become more consistent, more visible and more responsive to the needs of the community as well...This additional funding really is to sort of support the members."

Funding will also go towards cultural initiatives and workshops, such as last year's NAIDOC workshops, helping members feel connected, supported and represented.

This dedication to culturally safe care sits at the heart of Mob+, which Mr Borg described as "really vital."

"Health outcomes are built on trust, and trust hasn't always been present in mainstream systems for First Nations people," he said.

"Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people carry experiences of racism, exclusion, and cultural misunderstanding within healthcare and other institutions as well.

"If someone doesn't feel respected or understood or culturally safe, they really are less likely to attend appointments, disclose really important information, start treatment or stay engaged in care...we have really excellent treatment that exists, but people may not benefit from that if the environment doesn't feel safe.

"Culturally safe care really creates the conditions for people to engage. In this case, it recognises identity, respects culture, and supports connection to community and country."

Looking towards the future, Mr Borg is confident Mob+ will continue to flourish and assist First Nations individuals with HIV.

"I hope it continues to be a self-determined, really supportive network for First Nations people living with HIV, that can provide that gap in service to really strengthen people's quality of life and to ensure that people are living well with HIV, and not only living well, but thriving," he said.

ViiV Healthcare Australia Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager, Ann Maccarrone, says community-led spaces such as Mob+ are paving the way for improved health outcomes.

"Community-led solutions, grounded in lived experience and strengthened through genuine partnership with diverse communities, are critical to addressing barriers to care, providing peer-led education, visibility and helping to improve quality of life for all people living with HIV," she said.

"The recipients of the 2025 Positive Action Community Grant program are powerful examples of how that change is built and sustained within communities."