Rules banning sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma will be scrapped in a world-leading change to HIV-era regulations, with Lifeblood’s chief medical officer heralding it “a very exciting day”.
Current rules prevent gay and bisexual men and transgender women who have had sex with men in the past three months from donating blood or plasma.
But as of 14 July this year, most sexual activity wait times will be removed for plasma donations, in a rule change Lifeblood calls a “world-leading plasma pathway”.
It will mean most HIV negative people who take antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV infection (called pre-exposure prophylaxis) will be able to donate plasma without a wait period.
The national blood, milk, and microbiota donation service anticipates an extra 24,000 donors and 95,000 extra donations of plasma each year.
“Extensive research and modelling show that there will be no impact to the safety of the plasma supply with this change,” Lifeblood said in a statement.
The Health Equity Matters chief executive, Dash Heath-Paynter, said the change “potentially unlocks thousands of donations of life-saving plasma, which is in high demand in Australian hospitals”.
“In terms of plasma donations, these changes mean Australia’s regulations are world-leading.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has also approved a submission to remove gender-based sexual activity rules for blood and platelets donation eligibility.
“Every time a male donates at the moment, we ask them whether they have had anal sex with another man,” Dr Jo Pink, Lifeblood’s chief medical officer, told ABC News on Wednesday.
This carries on “from the HIV period, which was a very difficult period”, she said.
“Those rules were important to have in place to protect the safety of the blood supply. But, as you know, things have changed now. So it’s a very exciting day for us.”
There will be a move to “gender-neutral rules”, Pink said.
All donors will be asked the same questions about their sexual activity, and most people in a sexual relationship of six months or more with one partner will be eligible to donate blood. Most people with new or multiple partners will also be able to donate if they have not had anal sex in the past three months.
This change means men will no longer be asked if they have had sex with another man.
“Blood safety is and always will be our top priority but we know the current donation rules have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community,” Pink said. “While they were put in place to ensure a safe blood supply in the past, we know that they’ve contributed to the stigma faced by the community.”
The blood donation questionnaire change still needs “a little bit of work” and will be implemented sometime in 2026, Pink said.
“I know that our LBGTIQ + community is very keen to donate. So I’m really hoping that they’ll blast that number out of the park and we will get heaps of donations.”
The Let Us Give campaign, which advocated to lift the ban in 2022 amid a shortage of donations, welcomed the TGA’s approval but said the new rules are not best practice.
“We thank the TGA and Lifeblood for removing a ban that limited the supply of safe whole blood and stigmatised gay men, and bisexual men and trans women who have sex with men, as a threat to public health,” Let Us Give spokesperson Rodney Croone said in a statement.
LGBTIQA+ people and allies have been working hard for decades to achieve a gender-neutral blood donation policy, he said.
“The overseas experience shows that asking all donors the same gender-neutral questions is win/win because it does not increase disease risk, opens up a vital new source of safe blood and makes the blood supply less discriminatory.”
“Australian lives will be saved by of this overdue and important decision.”
While welcoming the news, Let Us Give researcher Dr Sharon Dane said Lifeblood and the TGA are taking a more conservative approach relative to other countries like the UK, Canada and US, where three months of a monogamous relationship if engaging in anal sex is required.
Croome said the rule TGA approved – sexual monogamy for six months or no anal sex for three months – will be confusing for donors and is not global best-practice.
“Nonetheless, this is a big step forward and we hope that after a short period of assessment, Australia’s whole blood donor policy will change to be in keeping with best-practice nations,” Dane said.
