AFAO has just launched a new website designed to provide gay men with information about sexual transmission of hepatitis C and how to prevent it. The New Deal includes info about testing, treatment and HIV /hepatitis C co-infection. Find out more

The latest edition of HIV Australia examines HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) among young people in Australia.

Authors discuss latest statistics, research, and health promotion initiatives focusing on people under 30, emphasising the importance of peer-lead approaches and communication strategies that directly involve young people speaking for themselves about HIV and sexual health.

The Government’s consolidation of Anti-Discrimination laws is intended to harmonise the different discrimination laws which currently exist. AFAO has welcomed this and provided input relating to key issue. 

In our submission on the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 (PDF) we noted the gap in coverage whereby migration legislation is exempted from the Disability Discrimination Act, and called for this not to be carried over into the new consolidated law.

We also voiced our opposition to the religious exemption allowing discrimination on the basis of sexuality and/or gender identity.

Disappointingly, the Government has put its plans to overhaul anti-discrimination laws on hold.  Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has conceded that the proposed laws may not have struck the right balance. It is believed that these reforms will now not be put to a vote before the September federal election.

Although the overhaul is on hold, the Government proposes to push ahead this week - the last week of sittings - with a separate bill to provide protections against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and/or intersex status.

AFAO and Anwernekenhe National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV/AIDS Alliance (ANA) provided joint comments on the proposed health plan.

We called for an explicit reference to blood-borne viruses (BBVs) or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), given the significant public health issues and challenges in respect of BBV and STI prevention and treatment among people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities, which is recognised by Commonwealth and State/Territory governments.

View our submission

As the Government has rolled-out the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in trial sites, AFAO has continued to be actively engaged in NDIS consultations, seeking to ensure that the interests of people with HIV are met.

We provided a submission (in January) on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012, and the overall implementation of NDIS.

In this submission, we argued for robust scrutiny to ensure the scheme's equity in order to avoid individuals’ unfairly accumulating debt.

We also called for a thorough engagement with community and consumer organisations on the administration of the legislation - particularly regarding the rules and eligibility assessment policies but also the complaints, review and appeals processes and the debt provisions.