Patient obligations #
The Public Health Act 2016(WA) creates a set of principles that apply in relation to the application, operation and interpretation of parts of the Act that relate to notifiable infectious diseases and related conditions in the state.
Section 88(2) of the Public Health Act 2016 (WA) states that a person who is at risk of acquiring a notifiable infectious disease must take ‘all’ reasonable precautions to avoid acquiring the disease. For the purposes of the Act, a notifiable infectious disease includes HIV.
Section 88(3) provides that a person who suspects they have a notifiable infectious disease must ascertain whether they have the disease, as well as the precautions that should be taken to prevent others from acquiring the disease.
Section 88(4) states that a person who has a notifiable infectious disease must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that others are not unknowingly placed at risk of acquiring the disease.
Concurrently, section 88(5) outlines the rights of a person who is at risk of acquiring or who suspects they may have, or who has, a notifiable infectious disease:
- to be protected from unlawful discrimination
- to have their privacy respected
- to be given information about the medical and social consequences of the disease or condition and any proposed medical treatment
- to have access to available and appropriate examination and treatment, and to have this examination and treatment free of charge (if provided by a public health official and to the extent necessary to prevent transmission to another person).
Where a person fails to comply with the above principles, it does not constitute an offence. However, their failure may be used in consideration of the appropriateness and nature of a test order or a public health order under the Act.
The Western Australian Department of Health’s fact sheet provides that reasonable precautions include:
- for a person at risk of acquiring HIV
- use of condoms with lubricant
- taking PrEP as prescribed by their medical practitioner
- if injecting drugs, use of sterile needles and syringes along with other injecting equipment, which must not be shared with another person.
- for a person with HIV
- use of condoms with lubricant
- having an undetectable HIV viral load (less than 200 copies/mL) (usually resulting from being on effective treatment)
- seeking and receiving confirmation from a sexual partner that they are taking PrEP
- if injecting drugs, use of sterile needs and syringes along with other injecting equipment, which must not be shared with another person.
Healthcare provider obligations (pre-contact tracing) #
Section 97 requires a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, who forms the opinion that a patient has a notifiable infectious disease, to give the patient information about the disease or condition.
- This information includes:
- the patient’s obligations to take reasonable precautions (see patient obligations above)
- the patient’s rights (see patient obligations above)
- information relevant to preventing the transmission of the disease to any other person
- the practitioner’s obligation to notify the chief health officer about the disease or condition (under s 94)
- any information prescribed by the regulations.
Where a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, without reasonable excuse, fails to provide this information to their patient, they are subject to a penalty in the form of a fine of $10,000. A defence is available to the practitioner if they believed, on reasonable grounds, that another person had given the patient the required information.
