THE RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS IN VICTORIA: WHAT IS EACH PARTY COMMITTED TO?

Wednesday 12 November saw the Victorian Minister for Health, the Hon David Davis; Shadow Minister for
Health Mr Gavin Jennings; Greens MP and party health spokesperson Ms Colleen Hartland; and Australian Sex Party candidate Joel
Murray join for a community forum to discuss the issues surrounding Victoria’s on-going response to HIV/AIDS. Using the Victorian
AIDS Council (VAC) and Living Positive Victoria’s joint election document HIV/AIDS: What Your Government Can Do as a framework,
each speaker was given an opportunity to highlight their respective party’s response to the key issues and recommended actions
before opening the forum to a question and answer session with the public. Questions raised included concerns over possible copayments
when accessing HIV treatment, rural/regional access to treatment and each party’s stance on amending or repealing
section 19A of the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC). With many questions still to be answered, the demand for more substantial commitments
is growing.
The Liberal party announced last week that, if re-elected, they would continue HIV rapid testing efforts with $4 million over the next
four years to continuing and expanding VAC’s PRONTO! service. This announcement comes not long after the Government’s recent
commitments to fund ICE harm reduction initiatives in Victoria over the next two years. Wednesday night’s forum prompted the
Minister for Health to confirm that the July announcement to amend section 19A of the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC) would not include
a feared expansion to other blood borne viruses. Meanwhile, speakers from the Opposition, the Greens, and Australian Sex Party
gave a definitive commitment to repeal the law. The audience heard promises from each of the parties to address the issues, but
the community still seeks clear commitments to actions if elected to be the next Victorian government later this month.
“We’re very pleased to have been able to host all the speakers for the forum and connect them with our community. However, we
were only able to cover so much on the night. We’ve yet to hear firm commitments regarding access to Post Exposure Prophylaxis
(PEP), especially in regional and rural Victoria. Furthermore, we’ve yet to hear if any of the parties would support a firm state-level
position on Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) as we’ve seen in the NSW HIV Strategy,” said VAC CEO Simon Ruth.
Living Positive Victoria Executive Officer Brent Allan added, “In order to end HIV we need to dismantle the ongoing damaging
effects of stigma. We need the incoming government to commit to funding stigma awareness and resilience building work as a key
priority.”
Rural Victorian and PLHIV community advocate Catherine Smith drove into Melbourne to attend the community forum and has
said, “Whichever major party forms Government in the upcoming Victorian State Election, they must make a commitment to do
all in their power to remove any and all barriers to accessing HIV services and treatment for rural and regional Victorians. In doing
so, they will honour the call from Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, to ensure that no one is left behind in our
global fight to end AIDS by 2030.”