Although there has not been the intensive examination of this issue in Australia, as there has in many overseas countries, there seems no reason to suppose that our prisons are so different from those of Western Europe and North America where relatively high rates of transmission have been found. In 1990 I delivered an address on AIDS Strategies and Australian Prisons in Adelaide. I called attention to the principles adopted by the World Health Organisation. This list was not particularly original. The Canadian report went on to address the particular problem of non-consensual sexual activity.
Custodial officers fear especially the misuse of needles as a weapon and for intimidation.
Governments are cautious about supporting activity which would be in breach of current rules for prison discipline and which they think will lack community support. As in society, so in prison, AIDS requires courageous decisions which are bound to be controversial. Establishing the needle exchange system was such a decision. Yet, in adopting it, Australia became a world leader. In a speech to Federal Parliament, she criticised their resistance to giving condoms and establishing drug prevention programmes.