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In Australia, surveillance data establish that there are higher rates of late HIV diagnoses among heterosexual migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and new HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men (GBM) from Southeast and Northeast Asia and Latin America. Together, these groups are identified as priority migrant communities in current efforts to eliminate HIV transmissions. HIV health literacy is recognised as a key means of improving access to services and health outcomes. This qualitative paper explores critical HIV health literacy among priority migrant communities in Queensland, Australia. To foreground community voices, peer researchers from priority migrant communities participated in the project design, data collection and analysis, with 20 interviews completed. The findings demonstrate how participants' engagement with HIV health information and services is highly relational and situated within the framework of sexual health and wellbeing. Participants strategically selected where to seek information and who they trusted to help them appraise this information. They further demonstrated reflective capacities in identifying the contextual barriers that inhibit the development of their HIV health literacy. The findings highlight the need for HIV health promotion strategies that embrace a sex positive approach, promote cultural change, and involve collaboration with general practitioners (GPs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: University creates unique social environments for many young people that can result in behaviour changes that can impact sexual health-related risks and facilitate transmission of HIV. Little is known about HIV knowledge, risk, and awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis/post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP) among Australian university students., Methods: A 2019 online survey distributed through Queensland universities, using active recruitment/snowball sampling. Descriptive and logistical regression analysis investigated HIV knowledge/risk and PrEP/PEP awareness., Results: Of the 4,291 responses, 60.4% were 20-29 years old, 57.0% identified as heterosexual, and 31.8% were born-overseas. Mean HIV knowledge score was 9.8/12. HIV risk scores were higher among men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) (mean=5.2/40) compared to all other sexual behaviours (mean=3.1/40). Logistic regression indicated PrEP and PEP awareness was associated with older age (p<0.05), being non-binary/gender-diverse (p<0.05), and MSM (p<0.05). Lower odds of PrEP awareness were associated with international student status (p<0.05)., Conclusion: This study highlights the need for future health promotion targeting younger Australians at risk of HIV to increase uptake of PrEP/PEP, particularly among overseas-born young people and those ineligible for appropriate health care in Australia., Implications for Public Health: Addressing these gaps will improve sexual health outcomes for young Australians at risk of HIV and work towards virtual elimination of HIV transmission in Australia., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)