When was the last time you got papped? 

Having a pap smear used to be a huge deal. Best case scenario, is you’ve had a steel beak shoved into you during a GP visit once a year, worst case scenario you're told you have HPV or need a dilation and curettage (D&C), or something far more sinister, that feels like it’s way beyond your years.

This really isn't the case anymore - things are much simpler and easier. it’s advised that anyone with a cervix should have a cervical screening by their 25th birthday, and (if results are normal), every five years after that. That’s where Get Papped comes in.

Get Papped aims to encourage people with a cervix to take control of their health and hold themselves and their loved ones accountable. 

Katie Norbery started Get Papped in 2019, to end the stigma and fear surrounding cervical screenings by sparking conversations, spreading information and stopping the stigma that often comes with getting papped.

In the years since launching, Katie has been hard at work compiling a practitioner directory of more than 500 doctors across Australia that have been tried and tested by someone in the Get Papped community. Knowing someone else has vetted who you’re getting papped by hopefully means that visiting a doctor for cervical screening shouldn’t be as scary of an experience.

Getting your cervical screening

See a general practitioner

Use the Get Papped practitioner directory to find a doctor recommended by the Get Papped community. 

Self-collection method

In 2022, a self-collection method was added to the National Cervical Screening Program Guidelines for eligible people. Call the National Cervical Screening Program on 13 15 56 for more information.

For more cervical screening resources, see the Australian Government Department of Health website.

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Tell those around you to Get Papped

You can encourage those around you to Get Papped by buying a t-shirt, hat or pin, or even buying birthday cards for those around you about to hit their mid-twenties stride. 

Check out everything Get Papped has to offer via their website, Instagram or TikTok. Get Papped is also in The Red Pages, See Red’s database of everyone working towards menstrual equality in Australia.