World AIDS Day

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:39): Last week, on Thursday 23 November, I had the pleasure of opening Relationships Australia's South Australian World AIDS Day event on behalf of the government and launching with the Hon. John Dawkins the music video for the community-produced song Positive Change. The song's message is simple but powerful, with lyrics such as, 'We're all in this together, let's all work to make concerted change. Okay! So what? Let's feel free to talk about it.'

The event was well attended by members of various culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It was particularly moving to hear people talk about their experience of living with HIV. PEACE Multicultural Services at Relationships Australia SA not only holds a World AIDS Day event each year; it works tirelessly throughout the year to build relationships with diverse communities but, most importantly, to start conversations and raise awareness about HIV.

The South Australian government continues to invest in primary and secondary HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care and support. The South Australian government has strong partnerships with non-government organisations, including Relationships Australia SA as well as medical and allied health, researchers and affected communities, to ensure that a comprehensive range of programs and services are available for people living with HIV and for those who are at highest risk of infection in our community.

Australia is committed to the United Nations target that 90 per cent of all people diagnosed with HIV will receive sustained treatment by 2020. Significant progress has already been made in Australia in terms of high rates of treatment, care and support for people living with HIV. According to the Kirby Institute's 2015 annual surveillance report, an estimated 90 per cent of people living with HIV are diagnosed, 75 per cent of people living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy, and 69 per cent of people living with HIV are virally suppressed. This means their level of HIV is reduced to undetectable levels, and they are therefore not able to transmit HIV.

Despite these achievements, people living with HIV still face stigma and discrimination. There is much work to be done to address this. Discriminatory treatment has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of people with HIV, including reducing access to care. For this reason, a key objective of the current national HIV strategy is the elimination of stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV.

This can be particularly challenging for members of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. People from these backgrounds are more likely to be diagnosed late, as they only get tested when there are some symptoms. This needs to change. HIV can affect anyone. HIV does not discriminate between people. Everyone has a role to play in eliminating the stigma and discrimination that people living with HIV face. That is why the theme of World AIDS Day this year is so fitting, 'Making a positive change: the power of the collective!'

I encourage all honourable members on World AIDS Day this Friday 1 December to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have sadly died. I also encourage honourable members to continue their support beyond World AIDS Day by starting conversations to dispel myths about the disease. The whole community needs to work together to send a message of love, respect and togetherness throughout the community so that those living with HIV feel supported. I also encourage members to share on their Facebook page the music video that was launched last week.