On World AIDS Day 2015, the NSW and Victorian health ministers announced new measures to increase PrEP access and encourage more GPs to prescribe PrEP off-label, ahead of TGA approval.

In a joint statement issued the same day, AFAO, the state/territory AIDS councils and the National Association of People With HIV Australia (NAPWHA), also called for the immediate expansion of PrEP access throughout Australia.

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The internationally esteemed Treat Yourself Right has had a makeover!

Renamed Living Well: Women with HIV, this comprehensive resource for women offers wide ranging information about living with HIV, disclosing HIV status, having sex, taking treatment, caring for your body, having children, keeping well and getting support.

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The latest edition of HIV Australia celebrates the history and the future of the community-led response to HIV among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It will be launched as part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV Awareness Week (ATSIHAW), at the HIV Summit in Brisbane, 2-3 December.

This special edition has been produced in collaboration with with leading Indigenous health researcher, Prof James Ward and Michael Costello-Czok (Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance).

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. 

Read the edition online or email admin@afao.org.au to request hard copies.

When the Charlie Sheen story broke on mainstream and social media in November, AFAO was able to proactively respond to the potential for stigmatising media reporting and social media commentary.

We immediately shared our recently updated HIV Media Guide website via Twitter and Facebook, tagging Australian media outlets and gaining massive engagement. A big thanks to everyone who shared the Guide during this time.

We also collated all the excellent Australian HIV sector commentary on Charlie Sheen's HIV disclosure on our blog. If you missed it at the time, you can catch up here.

The HIV Media Guide aims to support journalists to report on HIV accurately and sensitively. The Guide, which was launched as a website in 2014, provides tips, case studies, a language guide and much more.

Contact jsergeant@afao.org.au if you’d like social media images, or our promotional flyer for sharing.

Policy submissions

PCEHR Information Commissioner Enforcement Powers Guidelines 2015

In our submission to the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) Enforcement Guidelines, we noted the need for adequate funding for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and recommended small text changes to ensure greater specificity in the Guidelines.

Submission: Draft National Drug Strategy 2016-2025

AFAO's submission makes a number of suggestions for revisions of the draft Drug Strategy to ensure it is compatible with Australia’s national BBV strategies and international commitments to harm reduction for people who use illicit drugs.

African Briefing Paper updates and translations

Three of our suite of nine African Briefing papers have been updated, translated into appropriate languages, and are now available online. 

The overview has been translated into French, Amharic and Arabic. We have also updated the French translations of the papers on young people and stigma.

Read the updated papers in English:

• Overview
• Stigma
• Young people

You may have missed our mini film festivals at the Community and Advocacy Hubs we hosted at the ASHM conference in October – if you did, you can catch up with it on our blog.

We screened an awesome selection of videos from our members and other HIV sector partners.

Check out our video selection