A.I.D.S. Action In Aust. (Press, 17 November 1984)

On 17 November 1984, Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen called for all Australian states to adopt stringent penalties to deter homosexuals from donating blood. This follows a recent tragedy in Brisbane where three babies died and another was seriously ill after receiving blood believed to be contaminated with the AIDS virus. The contaminated blood had been donated by a 27-year-old homosexual man who had made 15 donations since 1981. The Queensland Parliament rapidly passed legislation imposing penalties of up to two years in jail or a fine of AUD 10,000 for individuals who provide misleading information about their blood donation eligibility. The legislation faced no opposition in Parliament, although the Opposition's health spokesman, Mr Terry Mackearoth, accused Queensland Health Minister Brian Austin of sensationalising the incident. The Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, announced a national summit to address the AIDS scare, bringing together Federal and state health ministers, as well as experts from various health organisations, to discuss measures for preventing further contamination of blood supplies. Dr Peter Harden, director of the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, described the man as a "first-class donor" and highlighted that it had not yet been confirmed whether he was infected with AIDS. He noted that testing is necessary to determine if the man has been exposed to the virus or is a carrier. While Hawke appealed for more women to donate blood, he refrained from commenting on the newly enacted Queensland legislation. The Aids Action Committee condemned the Queensland law as a “criminal solution” that would not effectively address the AIDS issue. According to Mr Lex Watson, the committee's convener, there were no indications that homosexuals had ignored blood bank policies, and prior to the introduction of more specific high-risk donor guidelines two months earlier, only promiscuous homosexual males were excluded from donations. He pointed out that the man whose blood contaminated the babies did not show any symptoms of illness, and his last donation occurred before the implementation of the stricter guidelines, which now barred all homosexuals from donating blood. Watson argued that under the current AIDS guidelines, the likelihood of further transmission was very low. The Aids Action Committee also advised against homosexuals donating semen or organs, leading to warnings to sperm banks and artificial insemination clinics in New South Wales regarding accepting donations from homosexuals due to the potential risk of AIDS transmission. As the situation developed, concern grew over a possible future blood shortage if a ban on male donors were implemented. Dr Tony Adams, Chief Medical Officer in the State Health Department, expressed concerns that a significant portion of blood donors being male could create a shortage for hospital needs if such measures were taken to restrict donations.

The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact

The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand