Sexual activity rules for blood donation are set to become gender neutral in April this year.
Changes confirmed today by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood mean all donors, regardless of gender, will be asked the same sexual activity questions.
The update follows the removal of sexual activity rules for plasma donations in July 2025, which was a world-first change at the time.
That change allowed gay and bisexual men and transgender women who have sex with men to donate plasma with no deferral period.
Since then, the policy has resulted in an additional 6,437 donations and 2,709 new donors in under nine months.
However, a three-month abstinence period from anal sex remained in place for those wanting to donate full blood.
Eligibility will now depend on donors’ answers to two questions:
- Whether they have had sex with someone new in the past six months
- Whether they have had sex with more than one person in the past six months
If a donor answers no to both questions, they can donate. If they answer yes to either, they will be asked whether they have had anal sex in the past three months.
If they have, they will need to wait six months before donating blood.
Lifeblood confirmed to GSD that donors in a monogamous relationship of six months or more can donate, regardless of how frequently they have sex.
If a donor has multiple sexual partners, there is a wait period before donating blood. However, this rule applies to all donors, regardless of gender.
Lifeblood says the abstinence period rules have been dropped, but donors cannot donate blood while they have multiple sexual partners and must have had one sexual partner for a period of six months to be eligible.
Lifeblood CEO Stephen Cornelissen AM said the updated eligibility rules are the next step in welcoming more donors to blood centres.
“Evidence shows that we can now safely make this change, and our submission approved by Australia’s regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), included the latest research, risk modelling and community feedback,” he said.
“Being able to make this change safely and address donation rules that have been very difficult for many people in the LGBTQIA+ community is a significant milestone.”
Lifeblood plans to monitor donation data once the changes begin, to assess whether the wait time for those in new relationships or with multiple partners can be reduced from six to three months.
