HIV Legal

HIV Legal provides healthcare practitioners with a guide to the central legal considerations involved in HIV care in Australia. It is a resource developed through a partnership between Health+Law (opens in a new window) and ASHM Health (opens in a new window).

HIV Legal contains legal information in the areas of:

• Testing, which includes informed consent for HIV testing, antenatal testing, mandatory testing for HIV, conveying test results, HIV public health notification requirements and contact tracing.

• HIV management, which includes information on the duty of care owed to third parties, the management of people with HIV who place others at risk, public health duties and offences for practitioners and members of the general public, as well as privacy and confidentiality responsibilities.

• Treatment and prevention, which includes information on disclosure and other matters.

This resource aims to provide health care workers with general information on key areas of law and legal and ethical responsibilities related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It does not contain legal advice, and access and use is subject to our disclaimer. Those seeking advice should contact their state or territory health department, a solicitor or their medical defence organisation. All efforts have been made to ensure the content is current at time of publication.