Relationships and HIV

There are over 23,000 people living with HIV in Australia. We are parents and partners, falling in love, starting relationship, leading active sex lives, and part of our communities like anyone else in society.  Like anyone else, we have a range of relationships, and come from a range of sexual orientations, heterosexual, gay, bisexual or pansexual.

Our partners may be other people living with HIV and people who do not have HIV. Many of us practice safer-sex, using condoms and water-based lube, which prevents a range of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV.

Those of us living with HIV rely on our regular HIV medication to keep the HIV virus from being transmitted (passed on) to our sexual partners. This is also known as ‘Treatment as Prevention’ (also known as TasP).

Some of our partners take a medication called PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to prevent contracting (getting) HIV.  Most of us use a variety of different strategies to take care of our own health and that of our partners.

What do I need to know?

• People living with HIV can lead normal, happy, healthy sexual relationships like anyone else.
• There are medications a person who does not have HIV can take to prevent them from contracting (getting) HIV.
• People living with HIV who take HIV medication as prescribed by our doctor, can use Treatment as Prevention (TasP) to prevent HIV from being transmitted (passed on) to our partners.