The National Centre in HIV Social Research offers a postgraduate program in Health, Sexuality and Culture. The program is guided by a social paradigm that understands persons and communities as social beings. It is designed to provide the empirical skills necessary to participate in the global fields of sex and drug research, and to equip students with an understanding of critical debates in social theories of sex, drugs and the politics of health and medicine. It is this mix of practical empirical skills and critical inquiry that makes the Health, Sexuality and Culture program unique.

The program is designed for students with a background in the social sciences, humanities or health. It offers specialised core courses in the social theories of sex and drug practices as well as research methods. Students can also take other courses offered within the university.

Students enrolled in the program undertake their own research project, supervised by NCHSR staff. Much of the research at the centre is oriented to the needs of practitioners working in the policy field, but we also encourage conceptual and theoretical inquiry into questions of health, sexuality and culture and their interrelationships.

The minimum requirement for entry into the program is a good Bachelor degree in arts, social sciences or another relevant discipline.

NCHSR offers three degrees: a Graduate Diploma, a Master of Arts by Research and a PhD. The MA by Research and PhD are HECS-exempt for Australian and New Zealand permanent residents. The Graduate Diploma incurs a HECS fee.