HIV AUSTRALIA 2015
HIV Australia 2015
Summary of articles published in 2015.

HIV AUSTRALIA Vol. 13 No. 1
Towards 2020: is Australia on track to meet its targets?
This edition looks at the impact of target-setting on Australia’s policy response to HIV.
Book review: Male Sex Work and Society
Male Sex Work and Society is 500 pages with 17 essays and research pieces presented in four sections: historical, marketing of male sex work, current social and cultural issues and seven case studies of social and cultural variations between different countries.
Regional feature: The United Nations hosts Asia Pacific Governments and Civil Society: a regional HIV and AIDS response and the post-2015 development agenda
The most effective way of preventing the spread of HIV is to protect the human rights of the persons at risk. These are the vulnerable and marginalised members of our society.
Health promotion update: The Bottom Line: HPV, gay men and anal cancer
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). Most sexually active people come into contact with it at some time in their lives. HPV causes common warts, genital warts and a range of cancers, including cancers of the anus, cervix, penis, vagina, vulva, and the neck and throat.
In memoriam: Timothy Moore, 1964–2014
Timothy Moore was the author of many of Australia’s best policy responses to the challenge of reducing HIV-related and other harms associated with drug use.
HIV and mobility in Australia: road map for action
HIV epidemics throughout their history have been influenced by international mobility, changing as a result of globalisation, rapid urbanisation and mass mobility. In the last decade, the issue has been growing in profile in Australia due to increasing HIV diagnoses related to international mobility.
The critical role of community mobilisation in meeting targets
Within New South Wales, the adoption of bold targets has been considered a critical force for recent change in the HIV response. Establishing clear HIV targets has provided important opportunities to refocus HIV prevention and treatment work. Engendering support and engagement in response to the targets has played a critical role in much of work to achieve those goals and targets.
HIV and the law in Victoria: the competing demands of public health and criminal justice
Despite a public health approach forming the basis of Australia’s response to HIV, other approaches have been used to respond to the epidemic, including use of the criminal justice system.
Decriminalisation of sex work: the evidence is in
Sex workers have been advocating for decades for the full decriminalisation of sex work and now it seems we have very persuasive evidence from The Lancet series on HIV and sex workers.
Drug policy and criminalisation: more harm than good
As a young volunteer in a drop-in centre for drug users in Yunnan Province, China, I was advised that above all I was there to ‘do no harm’. It was some of the best advice I have ever been given.
Imagining an Australia with PrEP
As awareness about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) grows in Australia, the US experience with PrEP, where it has been approved since July 2012, offers some useful insights. This lecture, excerpts of which follow below, honours Sir Moti Tikaram’s legacy of fighting against discrimination based on race and ethnicity in Fiji, and reflects on current discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people across the region.
Human rights, race and sexuality in the Pacific: regarding others as ourselves
On 31 October 2014, at the University of Fiji, the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, gave the Sir Moti Tikaram Memorial Lecture of 2014, entitled ‘Human Rights, Race and Sexuality in the Pacific – Regarding Others as Ourselves’.
This lecture, excerpts of which follow below, honours Sir Moti Tikaram’s legacy of fighting against discrimination based on race and ethnicity in Fiji, and reflects on current discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people across the region.
How can we set targets without the evidence? Achieving recognition for all women living with HIV in Australia
On the first day of the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne in July 2014, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Council released the AIDS 2014 Legacy Statement, a statement agreed to by all of Australia’s Health Ministers pledging to work towards the virtual elimination of HIV transmission in Australia by the end of 2020.
Drawing on experience in NSW, it is reasonable to suggest that setting targets has the capacity to energise and revitalise the response to HIV, but only if those targets are accompanied by supportive environments and technological advancement.
This article explores some of the benefits of setting targets, and also some of the limitations that are hindering progress.
Australian women and the 90-90-90 targets: what does the data tell us?
The latest National HIV Strategy includes, for the first time, numeric targets for reducing the rate of HIV transmissions in Australia.
Drawing on experience in NSW, it is reasonable to suggest that setting targets has the capacity to energise and revitalise the response to HIV, but only if those targets are accompanied by supportive environments and technological advancement.
This article explores some of the benefits of setting targets, and also some of the limitations that are hindering progress.
Infection or detection? Mediating the message of increased testing
It seems logical to say that if you increase the rate of HIV testing within a target community, you will be hoping to see an increase in diagnoses among that population.
Drawing on experience in NSW, it is reasonable to suggest that setting targets has the capacity to energise and revitalise the response to HIV, but only if those targets are accompanied by supportive environments and technological advancement.
This article explores some of the benefits of setting targets, and also some of the limitations that are hindering progress.
Impetus for change? The importance of targets and regulatory reform to ending HIV
Five years out, targets that have been set for 2020 are looming larger in the consciousness of HIV policy makers, advocates, community educators and health workers.
Drawing on experience in NSW, it is reasonable to suggest that setting targets has the capacity to energise and revitalise the response to HIV, but only if those targets are accompanied by supportive environments and technological advancement.
This article explores some of the benefits of setting targets, and also some of the limitations that are hindering progress.
Unlocking the medicine cabinet
Your Medicare card is one of the most important cards in your wallet. Medicare is the only way people in Australia can access subsidised medications through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Beyond combination prevention: understanding community-based prevention as a complex system
In a series on HIV prevention for The Lancet in 2008, Coates and colleagues describe combination prevention as behavioural, biomedical and structural approaches that are ‘combined strategically to address local epidemics’
Measuring HIV-based discrimination and human rights abuses: why bother?
There is no shortage of HIV policy documents outlining the ‘centrality’ of human rights to an effective HIV response, including the United Nations’ (UN) 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS,2 UNAIDS’ 2011–2015 strategy, ‘Getting to Zero’3 and the 2012 Global Commission on HIV and the Law report.
Communities, policies and the enabling environment
The Seventh National HIV Strategy has laid out a set of bold goals and targets to turn around the tide of rising infections and bring the HIV epidemic in Australia to an end.
Target-setting: Australia and the global context
Since the launch of the first government response to HIV in 1989, successive national HIV strategies have guided Australia’s partnership response in the areas of HIV prevention, treatment, care and human rights.

HIV AUSTRALIA Vol. 13 No. 2
Expanded horizons for HIV treatment and prevention
This edition of HIV Australia explores the changing landscape of HIV treatment and prevention in the light of new understandings about early treatment, treatment as prevention (TasP) and pre-exposure-prophylaxis (PrEP).
Health promotion update Get PEP
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a month-long course of HIV treatments taken within 72 hours of suspected HIV exposure (the sooner the better) to prevent seroconversion.
Book review Through Our Eyes: Thirty years of people living with HIV responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemics in Australia
Through Our Eyes: Thirty years of people living with HIV responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemics in Australia is an anthology which spans the extensive history of HIV in Australia.
International update Don’t leave communities behind: developing a new Global Fund strategy
Opening Plenary delivered at the Civil Society and Communities Bangkok Partnership Forum, 24–25 June 2015.
Is PrEP a realistic and ethical intervention for people who inject drugs?
‘[PrEP] is a very expensive way to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, when we know that NSP (needle syringe programs) and handing out harm reduction supplies is such an effective way to reduce HIV, and a lot cheaper.
Understanding the promise of biomedical prevention for couples of mixed HIV status: workshop report
Christy Newman, Asha Persson, Graham Brown, Jeanne Ellard and Ben Bavinton look at how treatment as prevention is liberating serodiscordant couples from discourses of risk.
Microbicides and HIV prevention in women: the state of research
Jennifer Power says that disappointing microbicide trial results among women to date are a reflection of HIV stigma and the complex realities of women’s lives.
Biomedical prevention of HIV and sex workers
Cameron Cox, Joel Falcon and Gemma Keegan outline sex workers’ concerns about the potential for coercive approaches to biomedical prevention.
Strength in numbers: The Institute of Many (TIM)
NIC HOLAS explains how ‘an experiment in community organising’ has become a major network and advocacy platform for people living with HIV.
Why might some people with HIV feel concerned about using treatment as prevention?
Christy Newman, John de Wit, Asha Persson, Martin Holt, Limin Mao, Sean Slavin and Michael Kidd share the perspectives of people with HIV who are not currently using HIV treatment.
Gay and bisexual men’s attitudes to antiretroviral-based prevention
Martin Holt discusses research showing conflicting views and beliefs about biomedical prevention among Australian gay and bisexual men.
Off-label: the changing boundaries of prevention
DEAN MURPHY looks at the growing trend of personal PrEP importation in Australia and considers the multiple representations of biomedical prevention.
PrEP: a GP’s perspective
Fiona Bisshop addresses some common concerns about PrEP and explains that it’s easy to manage with the support of your GP.
PrEP is a key HIV prevention strategy, but how do we chart its success?
CLOVIS PALMER provides a round-up of current research and debates on PrEP and HIV prevention, and says that current limitations can be used as a guide to improve its implementation.
Promoting treatment for HIV prevention
SEAN SLAVIN explores the impact of treatment as prevention on health promotion, canvassing the views of people from Australian HIV organisations and other health experts.
An early START: major study finds early HIV treatment is best
BILL WHITTAKER reflects on the long debate about when to start HIV treatment, at a pivotal moment in the HIV response.
Biomedical prevention: rhetoric and reality
SUSAN KIPPAX unpacks the real world implications of treatment as prevention research, noting an important distinction between ‘efficacy’ and ‘effectiveness’.
In memoriam: Alan Brotherton (1963–2015)
Michael Hurley farewells an old friend and stalwart of the global HIV response, paying tribute to his work and life philosophies.

HIV AUSTRALIA Vol. 13 No. 3
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this edition of HIV Australia contains images, voices or names of people who have passed away.
Fire in the belly: the call to action on HIV from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
This special edition of HIV Australia, produced in collaboration with guest editors James Ward and Michael Costello-Czok, celebrates the history and the future of the community-led response to HIV among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Articles outline current epidemiology, research and community-led projects.
The edition also features a historical retrospective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV health promotion.
HIV Treatment is different now: “Talking about Treatment” – A new film campaign from QPP
Queensland Positive People (QPP) has launched a new series of short films featuring five diverse people living with HIV (PLHIV) discussing HIV treatment and the ways that HIV treatment has changed.
The Us Mob & HIV and Taking a Look resources
In this superb collection, twenty-two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share their stories in powerful accounts of identity, belonging, colonisation and liberation.
Book review: Colouring the Rainbow – Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives: Life Stories and Essays by First Nations People of Australia
In this superb collection, twenty-two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share their stories in powerful accounts of identity, belonging, colonisation and liberation.
International feature: Indian Blood – HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco’s Two-Spirit Community
Indian Blood is a study conducted by Professor Andrew Jolivette, exploring the intersection of gender, sexuality, mixed-race identity and HIV among mixed-race, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or two-spirit (MLGBTQ2s) identifying American Indians living in urban areas.
Increasing visibility and participation of Indigenous peoples at AIDS 2014 and creating a cultural legacy beyond the conference
In July 2014, the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) and the International Indigenous Pre-conference on HIV & AIDS were held in Australia for the very first time.
HIV Free Generation: AH&MRC Street Art Project
‘It was real good spray painting and stuff, we had a lot of fun. And we learnt more about HIV which I didn’t even know what it meant when I first went to class’.
— Participant
The Connection: a strong and active voice for the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who use illicit and injecting drugs
The Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) is a primary health care facility based in Sydney’s Kings Cross, established in April 1987, as a result of a recommendation of the New South Wales Parliamentary Select Committee on Prostitution.
Reconciliation and responding to HIV in remote Western Australia
When launching our Reconciliation Action Plan two years ago and setting out on our personal and organisational reconciliation journey, we didn’t fundamentally change our commitment to serving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
‘This Way in the Right Direction’: Itha Mari – The Aboriginal Health and Healing Group at the Kirketon Road Centre
The Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) is a primary health care facility based in Sydney’s Kings Cross, established in April 1987, as a result of a recommendation of the New South Wales Parliamentary Select Committee on Prostitution.
Strengthening community capacity to maintain low levels of HIV among Aboriginal gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), sistergirls and brotherboys in South Australia
Indigenous people globally remain at higher risk of HIV and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) than non-Indigenous people.
It’s all about relationships: a story from the frontline about the ups and downs of managing HIV in remote Australia
Since 1994, a small cohort (approximately 20 people) of heterosexual HIV-positive clients in remote Australia has been managed by a team of health care providers. The philosophy of this service is not only to deliver high quality clinical care, but to have a culturally appropriate, holistic approach, with strong social and practical support.
Improving treatment outcomes for HIV-positive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at Cairns Sexual Health using the treatment cascade as a model
This article reflects the work of the multidisciplinary team of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, doctors, pharmacists, psychologists and nurses at Cairns Sexual Health to improve the treatment outcomes for HIV-positive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Responding to HIV among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory
Although the AIDS pandemic reached Australia in 1984, it was not until a decade later that funding was allocated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs at AIDS Councils, and Aboriginal responses to HIV began being led around Australia.
2Spirits: providing a multi-generational, culturally competent approach to health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
A key outcome from the inaugural Anwernekenhe conference was the recommendation to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV and AIDS Project in each AIDS Council in Australia.
HIV and sexually transmissible infections among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: summary of the latest surveillance data
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program was established at The Kirby Institute in 2007.
‘I know I can get it over and done with real quick’ – exploring Aboriginal gay men’s HIV testing needs
In 2012, the ACON Aboriginal project, in response to the need to encourage Aboriginal1 gay and homosexually active men to test for HIV more frequently, commenced planning to develop the Aboriginal Gay Men’s HIV Testing Campaign.
Health promotion retrospective
Condoman is Australia’s best known HIV health promotion campaigns, but there is a long history of innovative and culturally sensitive HIV health promotion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Aboriginal Nations Torres Strait Islander HIV Youth Mob (ANTHYM)
ANTHYM is the first National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Committee focused on sexual and reproductive health education for this generation and future generations.
ATSIHAW Ambassadors
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV Awareness Week (ATSIHAW) is an annual program of events that seeks to raise awareness about the impact of HIV among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
U And Me Can Stop HIV: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV Awareness Week 2015
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV Awareness Week (ATSIHAW) is an annual program of events that seeks to raise awareness about the impact of HIV among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
21 years: renewing the call for government action on HIV and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
On the final Day of Anwernekenhe 6, Linda Forbes, Policy and Communications Manager at AFAO, gave an address reflecting on the importance of Anwernekenhe’s 21 years, the Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance’s (ANA) ongoing relationship with AFAO and its current funding situation.
The road travelled and the road ahead: Anwernekenhe 6 keynote address
Werte! Let me begin by paying my respects to the traditional owners of country in Mbantua, to their elders both past and present, to Helen Liddle and your extended family – thank you for welcoming us all here on country.
Anwernekenhe 6 – a brief summary of recommendations
Anwernekenhe 6 served as an opportunity to celebrate 21 years of Anwernekenhe events.
Remembering our journey: Anwernekenhe 6 opening address
On Thursday 12 November, Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance (ANA) Chair, Neville Fazulla, officially opened the Anwernekenhe 6 conference in Alice Springs.
Remembering, Recognising and Responding: 21 years of the Anwernekenhe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander response to HIV
‘We recognise HIV/AIDS as a major health care threat to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We also recognise and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are dying alone and in shame of AIDS. This must stop’.
About The Cover Image
The cover image for our special Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander edition of HIV Australia is Anwernekenhe – ‘Us Mob’, Aunty Gloria Beckett, 2003.
Editorial: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
It is with great pleasure that we launch the second special edition of HIV Australia dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health issues.