Frequently asked questions relating to the Senate Inquiry into Australian blood and blood products infected with bloodborne viruses (hepatitis B, hepatitis C/HCV and HIV) during the 1970s–1990s.
How can I make a submission to the Inquiry?
You have several options for making a submission:
- Making your own independent submission
AND/OR - Contributing to the HFA submission
AND/OR - Contributing to another group/organisation submission
You will find more information on the How to participate page.
What should I include in my submission?
There is no single way to write a submission. HFA has prepared a practical toolkit to help you decide what you want the Committee to understand, organise your thoughts and lodge your submission. You only need to share what you feel comfortable sharing.
When are submissions due?
Submissions are due by 27 November 2026.
Visit the Inquiry website to find out more.
Where can I find information on BBVs and blood products in Australia?
The HFA Bloodborne Viruses Timeline gives an overview of the history of bloodborne viruses and blood products, both in Australia and internationally.
Follow the references at the end of the timeline to find the source information.
Hepatitis C
The 2004 Senate Inquiry into Hepatitis C and the blood supply in Australia provides information on blood products and hepatitis C in Australia from 1971-2003. There is more detail in some of the submissions, eg
- Haemophilia Foundation Australia (submission 82)
- Australian Red Cross Blood Service (see also supplementary documents – submission 64)
- Dept of Health & Ageing (multiple documents – submission 54)
The Australian response to hepatitis C in blood products is described in
- ‘The hepatitis C virus and transfusion medicine’ – Wood E, Coghlan P, Boyce N. Ch 17 in Crofts N, Dore G, Locarnini S, editors. Hepatitis C: an Australian perspective. Melbourne: IP Communications, 2001. (ask your library about access to this book or check Trove)
HIV
To read about the HIV experience of people with bleeding disorders in Australia, see:
For more detail, see:
- Crockett, C. x-factors: a history of haemophilia in Australia. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2003. (ask your library about access to this book or check Trove; some people with bleeding disorders may have a copy). In particular:
- Ch 6 – Blood-borne viruses
- Ch 7 – ‘Go for it, Jenny!’
- Sendziuk, P. Learning to trust: Australian responses to AIDS. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2003. (ask your library about access to this book or check Trove). In particular:
- Ch 2 – Securing Australia’s blood: people with haemophilia in crisis
Was there compensation for HIV in Australia?
Mark Fitzpatrick Trust
On 1 November 1989 the Australian government announced the establishment of a trust fund of $13.2 million, the Mark Fitzpatrick Trust, to benefit all people with medically acquired HIV. The Trust was named for Mark Fitzpatrick, who was the first child with haemophilia to die of AIDS in Australia. He died in 1988 at the age of 10 years. His mother, Jenny Fitzpatrick, had worked tirelessly in the campaign to educate the public and gain government assistance for medically acquired HIV.
The Trust provided special financial assistance to help with the costs of living with HIV infection. It was wound up in 2001.
Compensation settlements
In 1990 to 1991 this was followed by litigation through the courts and compensation settlements for people with medically acquired HIV by state and territory governments. Under the various schemes across the country approximately $90 million was paid out by May 1996, with individual payments ranging up to $650,000.
References
Australia. Senate Community Affairs References Committee. Hepatitis C and the blood supply in Australia. Canberra: Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat, 2004.
Crockett, Cheryl. xfactors: a history of haemophilia in Australia. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2003.
Was there compensation for hepatitis C in Australia?
Australian hep C financial compensation schemes
Australian governments contributed to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) litigation settlement schemes for eligible people who contracted HCV via the blood supply in Australia between 1985 and 1991, before the introduction of reliable screening tests for hepatitis C virus. However, eligibility for the scheme involved being able to link the individual’s source of infection to a single donor with hepatitis C.
HFA believes that nearly all people with bleeding disorders were excluded from eligibility:
- they had many treatments during this period and usually with clotting factor concentrates manufactured from the pooled plasma from thousands of donations
- they could not identify a particular treatment batch or a single donor as the source of infection.
The 2004 Senate Inquiry acknowledged Haemophilia Foundation Australia (HFA)’s statement about this issue. However, the Senate Inquiry Committee did not agree to extending compensation arrangements to include them.
‘5.40 The Committee is also aware that the criteria precludes many people suffering from haemophilia from accessing the compensation arrangements as it is difficult for those using blood products manufactured from many pooled donations to identify accurately the product which transmitted the infection.
5.43 The Committee considers that extending the current compensation arrangements is not in the best interests of those people who have acquired hepatitis C through blood and blood products. The Committee considers that the most effective way to assist this group of people with hepatitis C is to improve access to services, to improve education of medical personnel and to support research efforts to develop more effective treatments for hepatitis C.’
Apart from a small ex-gratia payment that was made by the ACT government to people with bleeding disorders who acquired hepatitis C through the blood supply, there have been no other government financial recompense schemes for people with bleeding disorders in Australia.
Financial support schemes
The 2004 Senate Inquiry into Hepatitis C and the Blood Supply recommended case management and financial support for health and community care costs of those who acquired hepatitis C through the blood supply, but a formal program was never implemented.
Read more about the Senate Inquiry outcomes
Reference
Australia. Senate Community Affairs References Committee. Hepatitis C and the blood supply in Australia. Canberra: Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat, 2004.