AVERT - AVERTing HIV and AIDS

Australia HIV & AIDS Statistics

An estimated 17,444 people were living with HIV in Australia at the end of 2008.

From the start of the epidemic until the end of 2008, there have been 28,330 diagnoses of HIV and 10,348 diagnoses of AIDS. Australia has recorded 6,765 AIDS deaths.

Estimated* HIV and AIDS diagnoses by year

Year HIV AIDS
Male Female Total** Male Female Total**
1987 and earlier 6,846 236 7,116 762 35 797
1988 1,221 73 1,297 520 15 536
1989 1,295 74 1,371 599 13 614
1990 1,283 85 1,276 655 17 674
1991 1,078 80 1,162 775 26 804
1992 1,051 88 1,140 752 37 791
1993 912 67 986 799 41 845
1994 839 85 926 904 45 953
1995 818 71 890 773 35 811
1996 811 74 887 637 33 670
1997 637 83 721 362 32 395
1998 550 94 645 305 23 329
1999 610 73 685 193 22 216
2000 572 82 658 241 24 265
2001 593 95 690 189 23 213
2002 731 90 825 224 20 246
2003 728 86 813 227 17 245
2004 724 126 851 178 22 202
2005 820 93 913 204 28 232
2006 806 145 954 198 20 221
2007 840 135 981 144 16 161
2008 837 136 973 91 8 99
Total 23,133 2,158 25,358 9,759 553 10,348***

* HIV data are adjusted for multiple reporting.

** Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding errors, people whose sex was reported as transgender, and diagnoses in more than one state or territory.

***AIDS diagnoses in New South Wales in 2008 are not included. Includes 36 people whose sex was reported as transgender.

The annual number of HIV diagnoses in Australia peaked in 1987. There followed twelve years of decline, after which the rate of diagnoses grew again to reach 973 in 2008 (after adjusting for multiple reporting).

The annual number of AIDS diagnoses in Australia peaked in 1994 at 953 cases, and then declined rapidly to 216 in 1999. The fall since 1996 was largely due to the introduction of effective combination antiretroviral therapy, which delays progression from HIV infection to AIDS.

Exposure categories

Transmission in Australia continues to occur primarily through sexual contact between men. Around 66% of people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2008 were among men who have sex with men; 27% were exposed through heterosexual contact; 3% were due to injecting drug use; and a further 3% were men with a history of both injecting drug use and sex with other men. In 5% of cases the route of HIV transmission was categorised as other or undetermined.

HIV and AIDS cases by state/territory, until end of September 2008

State/Territory HIV* AIDS*
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Australian Capital Territory 274 34 308 94 10 104
New South Wales 14,069 956 15,283 5,524 265 5,807
Northern Territory 143 25 168 46 4 50
Queensland 3,031 322 3,362 1,076 74 1,152
South Australia 1,008 116 1,125 414 32 447
Tasmania 115 13 128 55 4 59
Victoria 5,694 427 6,165 2,093 119 2,225
Western Australia 1,316 237 1,560 439 42 483
Total 25,650 2,130 28,099 9,741 550 10,327

* Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding errors, people whose sex was reported as transgender, and diagnoses in more than one state or territory.

Relative to population size, New South Wales has had by far the highest rate of HIV diagnoses. Victoria has had the second highest rate, followed by Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Queensland.

Ethnicity and country of origin

Overall rates of HIV and AIDS diagnoses per capita have differed little between indigenous and non-indigenous people. However, there are significant differences in transmission routes.

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people diagnosed with HIV in 2004-2008, sex between men was the reported source of exposure to HIV in 54% of the population (compared to 67% in the non-Indigenous population). Heterosexual contact was the reported transmission route for 23% of cases in both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and the non-Indigenous population. The number of cases attributable to injecting drug use was higher among the Indigenous population (22%) than the non-Indigenous (3%).

Women accounted for a higher proportion of total HIV infections among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (26.9%) than among the non-Indigenous population (11.6%).

People born in Australia accounted for 58% of HIV diagnoses in the period 2004-2008.

AIDS cases and deaths following AIDS, by sex and age, until end of September 2008

Age Cases Deaths
Male Female Total* Male Female Total*
0-12 32 22 54 22 12 34
13-19 28 5 33 15 3 18
20-29 1,460 127 1,602 695 50 756
30-39 3,954 200 4,166 2,487 108 2,604
40-49 2,832 107 2,944 2,078 61 2,141
50-59 1,050
 48 1,102 822 35 858
60+ 385 41 426 313 38 351
Total 9,741 550 10,327 6,432 307 6,762

* Includes people whose sex was reported as transgender

In Australia, further evidence of the benefits of improved therapy has come from the substantial improvement in length of life following the diagnosis of AIDS. Median survival time has increased from 19 months for cases diagnosed prior to 1998 to 69 months for cases diagnosed in 2002.

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Sources:

  • National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Australian HIV Surveillance Report, Vol 25, No 1, January 2009
  • National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance Reports 1997-2009. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Sydney, NSW; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, ACT

Last updated September 22, 2009