Australian Government buries report on laws and policies that negatively impact the HIV response, including HIV criminalisation

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has refused to release a report which HIV advocates and health professionals say is vital to meeting a target to reduce HIV infections in Australia. The report is the result of three years of work by a Ministerial Advisory Committee set up to examine legal issues, discrimination and stigma in different states arising from laws such as criminalisation of non-disclosure of a person’s HIV status. The report, which has the lengthy title of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Blood Borne Viruses and STIs (MACBBVS) Legal Working Group Report, was finalised earlier this year and sent to the minister for final consideration.