New Blood Donation Screening Questions “Indirect Discrimination” Say Advocates

New gender neutral screening questions for blood donations are set to be introduced next year, but advocates say they may be perpetuating indirect discrimination.

Last month, Lifeblood lifted the ban on blood donations from sexually active gay and bi+ men, trans women and other AMAB gender-diverse people, following years of tireless campaigning.

In 2026, gender-specific screening questions used for potential blood and platelet donors will be removed, and replaced with a gender neutral questionnaire.

The questions will switch from asking men if they have had sex with men in the three months prior, and instead simply ask all participants if they have engaged in anal sex with any new partners in the previous three months.

However, spokespeople from the Let Us Give campaign, one of the peak groups advocating for blood donation equality, say the proposed questions for whole-blood donation are confusing, not best practice, and appear to be an example of indirect discrimination.

“In comparable countries like Canada, the UK and US, all donors are asked if they have had anal sex with new or multiple partners in the last three months, and are asked to delay donation if they answer yes,” said Let Us Give researcher, Dr Sharon Dane.

“But on top of that question, Lifeblood wants to ask an unnecessary, superfluous and confusing question about whether donors have been monogamous for six months. This question is unnecessary because six months is much longer than necessary for a new HIV infection to show up on tests.”

“The question is also confusing when there is already a three-month monogamy period and it may deter donors who are safe and able to give. We want Lifeblood to ask the simple, straight forward best-practice questions that are asked in Canada, the UK and US.”

Health ministers contacted with concerns

Let Us Give spokesperson, Rodney Croome, highlighted the possibility the proposed six-month-monogamy question replaces one form of discrimination with another.

“Despite all donors getting the same question regardless of sexuality or gender, the new monogamy barrier will be put in place at the same time as gay, bi and trans people are able to donate.”

“The message will be that Lifeblood still sees gay and bisexual men and trans women as sexual risk takers and our blood as inherently unsafe.”

Let Us Give has written to all national, state and territory health ministers urging them to ask Lifeblood their rationale for the questions.

“The message this “extra caution” will send is that GBT donors still somehow pose an extra risk to the blood supply and that our blood is still somehow more likely to be tainted,” they said in the letter.

“While Lifeblood’s gender-neutral approach is an acknowledgement that direct discrimination in blood donation is no longer acceptable, the six-month time period feels like a form of indirect discrimination, that is, discrimination which theoretically applies to everyone but in reality is about one group in particular.

“On top of this, the inconsistency between time periods (six months v three months) is a problem because it re-establishes a hierarchy between different types of sexual activity.”

New donor rules must be approved by all national, state and territory health ministers.