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It is estimated that 13,630 people were living with HIV infection in Australia at the end of 2003.

From the start of the epidemic until the end of September 2004, there have been 23,989 diagnoses of HIV (or an estimated 21,130 after adjusting for multiple reports), 9,392 diagnoses of AIDS and 6,459 reported deaths of persons with AIDS.

In 2003, AIDS incidence in Australia (1.5 per 100,000 population) was similar to that in the United Kingdom and Canada. Substantially higher AIDS rates were reported in a number of other Western countries including France (2.2), Spain (3.3) and the United States (15.0 in 2002).

Estimated* HIV and AIDS diagnoses by year

Year HIV AIDS
Male Female Total** Male Female Total**
1987 and earlier 6846 236 7116 762 35 797
1988 1221 73 1297 520 15 536
1989 1295 74 1371 599 13 614
1990 1283 85 1276 655 17 674
1991 1078 80 1162 775 26 804
1992 1051 88 1140 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 823 74 899 638 33 671
1997 652 80 733 353 31 385
1998 564 94 659 297 22 320
1999 618 73 693 174 22 197
2000 583 78 664 231 24 255
2001 599 92 692 186 21 208
2002 737 89 831 215 16 232
2003 698 83 782 279 10 290
Total 19010 1510 20580 8911 440 9380
* HIV data are adjusted for multiple reporting; AIDS figures for 2001-2003 are adjusted for reporting delays
** Includes people whose sex was reported as transgender

Back-projection analyses, based on AIDS cases reported prior to 1996, indicated that annual HIV incidence in Australia peaked around 1985. There followed thirteen years of decline, after which the rate of diagnoses remained relatively stable at around 680 per year between 1998 and 2001. Recent estimates show a rise above this level to 831 in 2002 and 782 in 2003.

The annual number of AIDS diagnoses in Australia peaked in 1994 with 953 cases, and then declined rapidly to 197 in 1999. The fall since 1996 was largely due to the use of effective combination antiretroviral therapy, including protease inhibitors, for the treatment of HIV infection. However, only 50% of people with HIV are receiving this treatment and its long-term effectiveness is unknown. The number of AIDS diagnoses had risen again to an estimated 290 in 2003.

Exposure categories

Transmission in Australia continues to occur primarily through sexual contact between men. A history of male homosexual contact was reported in more than 85% of newly acquired HIV infection diagnosed in the period 1999 to 2003. HIV prevalence remains below 1% among people attending needle and syringe programs, prison entrants, and among men and women seen at sexual health clinics reporting a history of heterosexual contact and women with a history of sex work.

HIV and AIDS cases by state/territory, until 30th September 2004

State/Territory HIV AIDS
Male Female Total* Male Female Total**
Australian Capital Territory 246 31 277 92 9 101
New South Wales 12571 769 13607 5110 221 5346
Northern Territory 122 17 139 41 2 43
Queensland 2407 224 2640 970 61 1033
South Australia 828 82 911 386 30 417
Tasmania 89 8 97 48 4 52
Victoria 4717 306 5064 1853 94 1957
Western Australia 1086 161 1254 407 34 443
Total 22066 1598 23989 8907 455 9392
* Includes people whose sex was not reported or was reported as transgender
** Includes people whose sex was reported as transgender

Relative to population size, New South Wales has had by far the highest rate of HIV diagnoses: 203.3 per 100,000 people. Victoria has had the second highest rate of 103.0 and Capital Territory is not far behind at 85.8. Rates have been similar across Northern Territory (70.1), Queensland (69.5), Western Australia (64.2) and South Australia (59.6). Tasmania has had the lowest rate of 20.3 HIV diagnoses per 100,000 population.

Between the start of October 2003 and the end of September 2004, the number of AIDS diagnoses per million population was highest in Northern Territory (15.1).

Overall rates of HIV and AIDS diagnoses per capita have differed little between indigenous and non-indigenous people. However, there are differences in the relative importance of means of transmission of HIV. In the Indigenous population, heterosexual contact was reported almost as frequently as male homosexual activity. Indigenous cases also differed in that a higher proportion of infections were attributed to injecting drug use (21% among indigenous cases vs 3% for non-indigenous cases). In addition, a higher proportion of infections were among women (34% vs 10%).

People born in Australia accounted for 68% of AIDS diagnoses in Australia in the period 1999 to 2003.

Cases of AIDS and deaths following AIDS by sex and age group, until 30th September 2004

Age Cases Deaths
Male Female Total* Male Female Total*
0-12 30 20 50 22 12 34
13-19 27 4 31 14 3 17
20-29 1401 110 1524 689 48 748
30-39 3695 169 3874 2433 102 2542
40-49 2530 78 2612 1981 49 2032
50-59 914 39 956 761 32 793
60+ 310 35 345 261 32 293
Total 8907 455 9392 6161 278 6459
* 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. Survival time has increased from 16.8 months for cases diagnosed prior to 1995 to 32 months for cases diagnosed in 2000.

AVERT.org has many other pages of HIV & AIDS statistics and a guide to understanding the statistics.

Sources:

  • National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Australian HIV Surveillance Report, Vol 21, No 1, January 2005.
  • National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance Reports 1997-2004. National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Sydney, NSW; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, ACT.

Last updated March 18, 2005

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