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Victoria’s Victorian HIV Law – The Repeals of Section 19A

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Ahead of the 20th International AIDS conference, AIDS 2014, being held in Melbourne next week, Victoria’s two peak HIV organisations, Living Positive Victoria and the Victorian AIDS Council have joined forces, working together to see an end to Section 19A as it is seen to perpetuate stigma and hampers people accessing effective testing and treatment options.

Victoria is the only State in Australia to have a specific law criminalising the transference of HIV. Section 19A of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) establishes the criminal offence of ‘intentionally causing a very serious disease’ – with ‘very serious disease’ defined exclusively to mean HIV infection. The offence carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years imprisonment – equivalent to rape or armed robbery.

Living Positive Victoria – Repeal 19A
Victoian AIDS Council

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Wednesday, January 1 2014
Produced By Dean Beck
Featured in storyIan Muchamore - President of Living Positive VictoriaHeath Paynter - Senior Policy Analyst for Victorian AIDS CouncilPaul Kidd - Chair of the HIV Legal Working Group
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