Australia Hits Global HIV Target for First Time as Diagnoses Fall, but First Nations Gap Persists

Australia has reached a landmark milestone in its fight against HIV, meeting ambitious global testing and treatment targets for the first time while recording a 25 per cent drop in new diagnoses over the past decade. New data from the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney show 753 people were diagnosed with HIV in Australia in 2025 — down from 1,006 in 2016 — with the population-adjusted diagnosis rate falling by roughly a third over the same period. Researchers say the achievement places Australia among a small group of nations on track to eliminate HIV as a public health threat by 2030, though they warn the progress is far from evenly shared.

What the UNAIDS 95-95-95 Targets Mean

For the first time, Australia has satisfied the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets — a globally recognised benchmark in the effort to end the HIV epidemic. The framework calls for 95 per cent of people living with HIV to know their status, 95 per cent of those diagnosed to be receiving treatment, and 95 per cent of those on treatment to achieve viral suppression.

Meeting all three thresholds simultaneously is considered a critical indicator that a country is on a credible path toward ending HIV as a public health threat by the end of this decade. Understanding the broader epidemiology of HIV/AIDS helps contextualise why these targets are so significant — globally, many countries remain far from achieving them.

Annual diagnosis numbers have remained largely stable over the past three years, suggesting Australia has plateaued at a lower level rather than continuing a steep decline, which researchers say underscores the importance of sustaining prevention and testing efforts.

First Nations Australians Diagnosed at Nearly Twice the Rate

Beneath the headline achievement lies a troubling disparity. First Nations Australians were diagnosed with HIV at a rate of 3.9 per 100,000 population in 2025, compared with 2.1 per 100,000 among non-Indigenous Australians — making them almost twice as likely to receive a new diagnosis. A total of 37 First Nations people were diagnosed during the year.

Kirby Institute First Nations Health Research Program manager Robert Monaghan described the gap as deeply concerning, pointing to longstanding barriers to culturally safe healthcare that continue to undermine access to prevention, testing and treatment services.

Kirby Institute epidemiologist Dr Skye McGregor said the data demonstrated the need to work closely with communities to ensure responses are accessible and culturally appropriate. Meanwhile, First Nations point-of-care program lead Kim Gates noted that stronger screening efforts by Aboriginal community-controlled health services may partly explain higher recorded diagnosis rates — reflecting improved detection rather than solely increased transmission.

"People living in remote communities do have poorer access to health services, so we still need to be ensuring that Aboriginal people are being screened at least twice a year for STIs," Gates said. She also called on healthcare workers to challenge assumptions about who is at risk of HIV, noting that stigma and discrimination remain significant barriers preventing some people from seeking care early.

Questions of healthcare access and cultural safety for First Nations communities extend well beyond HIV — as explored in our coverage of what First Nations wisdom teaches us about community and wellbeing.

Gay and Bisexual Men, and Overseas-Born Australians, Still Vulnerable

Gay and bisexual men accounted for almost two-thirds of all HIV diagnoses recorded in 2025. Among Australian-born men in this group, diagnoses have nearly halved over the past decade — a significant achievement attributed in part to greater access to prevention tools and treatment. However, overseas-born gay and bisexual men have seen much smaller declines and continue to face considerable barriers to accessing healthcare and prevention services after arriving in Australia.

Researchers identified late diagnosis as another ongoing risk, with people diagnosed at a later stage of infection facing poorer health outcomes and a greater likelihood of unknowingly transmitting the virus.

The Road to 2030

While Australia's achievement of the UNAIDS targets is being welcomed as a major public health success, researchers are clear that reaching the 2030 goal of ending HIV as a public health threat will require sustained and targeted effort. Closing the gap for First Nations Australians, improving outreach to overseas-born communities, and reducing the stigma that delays diagnosis all remain urgent priorities if the overall national progress is to translate into equitable outcomes for every community.