HIV testing
If you have never tested before
If your last test was some time ago
If you are in a regular relationship
Australia's policy on HIV testing
HIV tests
There are number of different tests used to detect HIV. The most common tests are described below.
The HIV antibody test
The HIV antibody test is a blood test to find out if you have come into contact with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV.
If you have come into contact with the virus your immune system will produce antibodies to fight the infection and these are what are detected in the test. Usually, antibodies are produced between 2 – 8 weeks following infection with HIV.
If the test is positive another test will be done to confirm the result. When the result is confirmed it means that you have HIV or that you’re HIV positive.
Antigen tests
A p24 antigen test will detect HIV infection at an earlier stage than an HIV antibody test. p24 antigen is a protein that is part of the HIV virus; it is produced in high quantities early in the process of HIV infection becoming established in a person’s body. p24 antigen is detectable during this time.
In Australia, most laboratories currently use tests which test for both HIV antibodies and p24 antigen.
Rapid HIV tests
Rapid HIV tests are available in many countries but not yet in Australia. Rapid HIV tests are usually used ‘at the point of care’ while the client waits for the result, which is usually available after 10 to 20 minutes. Most rapid HIV tests detect HIV antibodies, however there is also a rapid p24 antigen test available in some countries.
A ‘reactive’ (or preliminary positive) result on a rapid HIV test is not a diagnosis of HIV infection, as rapid HIV tests produce a small number of false positive results. For this reason, a reactive rapid HIV test result always needs to be confirmed by laboratory tests.
Why should I test?
You should consider an HIV test if you think you may have been exposed to HIV. Having unprotected anal sex (i.e. without a condom), unprotected vaginal sex, or sharing injecting equipment are all activities that can put you at risk of HIV infection by allowing bodily fluids (blood, semen or vaginal fluid) to enter your body, and possibly your bloodstream. If the bodly fluid contains HIV, this can lead to HIV infection.
Signs and symptoms
Some people who are in the process of becoming HIV infected — the process is referred to as seroconversion — have a collection of signs and symptoms known as a "seroconversion illness". A seroconversion illness may include a rash, fever, aching body, fatigue or a simple persistent flu-like illness. Many of these signs and symptoms of a seroconversion illness are easy to overlook, are often vague and can be similar to the symptoms of other illnesses.
If you have never tested for HIV before
When you have the antibody test, you should receive some counselling or discussion both before you take the test and when you receive your test results. This is to ensure that you are fully informed about the test, and about the implications of testing HIV- positive.
Not knowing your HIV status is your choice, but knowing that you are HIV positive or HIV negative can provide you with options for taking care of yourself and others. If you are in fact HIV positive, then early diagnosis and treatment can help you stay healthy. Knowing your HIV status is part of being in control of your health and will probably cause less anxiety than not knowing.
If your last test was some time ago
How often you get tested is up to you. If you were tested some time ago and have been practising safe sex since, it is still recommended that gay men should test again every 12 months, as condoms are not always 100% effective, and you may not always know whether a condom has broken during a sexual encounter.
Regular relationships
If you are in a relationship and you and your partner are considering having sex without using a condom, you both need to go through a process of having a number of HIV tests and continuing to use condoms until you can both be certain that neither of you has HIV.
It is also important that if you and your partner have agreements about sex outside the relationship that you stick to them. If the agreements are broken, then you need to discuss them in an honest way with each other and you may need to return to using condoms until you go through another round of HIV testing.
Where can I test?
For information about where to find a gay friendly doctor, call your local AIDS Council.
Sexual health clinics provide free and confidential testing services; for details of locations click here.
Also, The Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM) Directory of HIV, Hepatitis C and related services lists services in your area that provide HIV testing.
I have just got a positive test result
You may find the Recently Diagnosed page on this website useful. You can also call your local AIDS Council or People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) group to find out where you can get support and information in your area. AIDS Councils and PLWHA groups are listed in the Links section.
Australia's policy on HIV testing
In September 2011, The Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM) launched the 2011 National HIV Testing Policy and the ASHM Testing Portal website.
The 2011 National HIV Testing Policy supersedes the 2006 Policy, and is a shorter and more accessible document which opens the door for the introduction of Point of Care (POC) testing in Australia.
Significant differences in this policy include:
- Change in terminology from pre-test discussion to informed consent
- Communication of an HIV negative test result
- Provision of framework for Point of Care (PoC) testing
- Web-based provision of policy allowing for regular revision and access to related resources (e.g. related policies, operational guidelines, evidence of best practice)
The eight key principles that guide HIV testing in Australia are that:
- testing is demonstrably of the highest possible standard and timely;
- testing should be voluntary and performed with informed consent;
- test results will remain confidential (i.e. only the person being tested and the person providing the results will be entitled to information necessary to identify the individual result). Exceptions to this principle are identified in the Policy;
- testing must be accessible to all those at risk of HIV infection;
- testing is critical to the interruption of transmission on a population level;
- testing is of benefit to the person being tested and a critical trigger to initiating interventions including treatment;
- testing is critical to understanding the epidemiology of HIV infection in the community;
- anonymous testing should be available to individuals, subject to the need to obtain sufficient demographic information from those being tested to allow accurate aggregate information to contribute to surveillance.
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