Key findings
- Considerable gaps remain in the reporting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status was not reported in 52% or over 30,000 cases of chlamydia diagnosed in Australia in 2008. Similarly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status was not reported for 2,178 cases or 28% of diagnoses of gonorrhoea in 2008. Incomplete information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification has the potential to underestimate the true prevalence and morbidity associated with these STIs in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
- A total of 183 cases of infectious syphilis were diagnosed among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally in 2008 compared with 1,057 cases among non-Indigenous people. The age standardised rate of
diagnosis of infectious syphilis decreased from 40 per 100,000 in 2006 to 34 per 100 000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in 2008, but remains high compared with the non-Indigenous population where the rate in 2008 was 6 per 100,000. - A total of 995 cases of HIV infection were newly diagnosed in Australia in 2008, including 19 cases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Despite the relatively small number of notifications, the population rate of HIV diagnosis in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population remains similar to that in the non-Indigenous population.
- A total of 246 cases of newly acquired hepatitis B were diagnosed in Australia in 2008, 20 (8%) of these were diagnosed among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 180 (73%) cases occurred among
non‑Indigenous people and Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander status was not reported in 46 (19%) cases. - A total of 11,303 cases of hepatitis C were diagnosed in Australia in 2008. Of these 626 (6%) occurred among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 4,115 (36%) occurred among non‑Indigenous people
and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status was not reported in 6,561 (58%) diagnoses.