Research Reports

The major aim of the 2007-2008 Three or More Study (TOMS) project was to provide data on risk behaviour and condom negotiation in a cross-sectional sample of homosexually active men who engage in group sex. The study was conceived and designed in consultation with ACON, with funding from the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Health for the NSW component of the study, and additional support from VAC and QAHC to enable the study to be extended to Victoria and Queensland respectively.

This study was developed against a backdrop of major changes in the HIV prevention landscape. The emergence of new prevention approaches and technologies offers the potential to profoundly impact prevention engagement with Australian gay men but relatively little is known about the level of knowledge and hence preparedness of gay communities to engage with this new prevention paradigm. These fundamental shifts in HIV prevention responses and in treatment methods will profoundly affect HIV prevention education within gay communities.

This report presents findings on the mental health of 465 justice-involved young people. Findings are drawn from a wider survey of the mental, sexual and reproductive health of young people (14–17 years old) in contact with the justice system (MEH-JOSH study) conducted in Queensland and Western Australia between 2016 and 2018. This survey aimed to overcome key knowledge gaps of this group who are often underrepresented in, or excluded from, research and community surveys.

The Seroconversion Study has existed in several forms since 1992. This most recent version completed data collection in 2015. Seroconversion studies have played an important role in the Australian HIV response and are a useful research tool in understanding the current circumstances of HIV infection. This version of the Seroconversion Study occurred at a time of rapid and fundamental changes in our understandings, and implementation, of HIV treatment and prevention. As with previous versions of the study, it mainly targeted gay and bisexual men (GBM).

The PASH Study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from mainly homosexual men to ascertain their understandings of pleasure and how it affects the decisions they make about sex. Men were recruited from a range of sources including gay community events, online social networking websites, and gay dating websites. A website presented information about the study and provided a gateway to the online survey; men also had the option of being interviewed face-­to­‐face. 2306 men completed the survey and 40 were interviewed in depth.

For gay men living in Cairns, life probably remains very similar to how it was when the first “Out” on the Reef report was written in 2000. Men continue to be drawn there by the relaxed, tropical lifestyle, wilfully leaving behind the stress of larger urban gay communities. The men in these focus groups described differing levels of attachment to any gay community in Cairns, which generally matched their desire for it. For the most part, the wider community increasingly embraced the diverse nature of the expanding Cairns population.

Personal partnerships, particularly sexual partnerships, are central to the development of personal identity and to cultural and community affiliation. They are also crucial in promoting and supporting personal health and well being. Bonds of relationship and attachment are complex and heavily mediated by social context. We investigated how gay and bisexual men have structured their partnerships.

This study of male sex work in NSW and Queensland recruited a total of 471 respondents in NSW and 250 in Queensland, among whom 94 men in NSW (20.0%) and 55 men in Queensland (22.0%) reported having engaged in male-to-male sex work.

Health in Men (HIM) is a long-term study of an open cohort of HIV-negative gay men in Sydney. The study was funded initially (2001–2002) by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and the New South Wales Health Department. From mid-2002 funding was provided by the US National Institutes of Health, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, as part of the Australian Thai HIV Vaccine Consortium (NIH/NIAID/DAIDS:HVDDT Award N01-AI-05395).

Review of evidence from low and middle-income countries and community acceptability of new HIV testing models to reach key populations in Papua New Guinea.