The WA AIDS Council is presenting the preliminary findings of the Perth Gay Community Periodic Survey tonight.

Join Associate Professor Martin Holt from the Centre for Social Research in Health UNSW as he presents on the preliminary findings of the survey.

The results of a similar survey in Melbourne were recently released and it revealed some interesting statistics about gay men’s relationships and sex lives.

In the Melbourne survey 32% of the 2886 men who responded described themselves as being in open relationships. 31% of the respondents said they were in a monogamous relationship and 23% said they we having casual sex. The other 14% of people surveyed were not having any sex at all.

The study also looked into how people were meeting, the growth of phone dating apps and how many were looking after their sexual health.

The good news from the Victorian study was a big increase in the number of men getting tested regularly for HIV. The number of men who had three or more HIV tests in the last 12 months increased to 22.8%, up from 11.9% in 2012. The overall number of men getting tested for HIV however dropped from 69.9% in 2012 to 65.6% in 2016.

Melbourne saw an increase in the number of men accessing PrEP treatment, unlike WA many Victorian men have been able to access the HIV prevention drug through an approved trial. Six percent of those surveyed were using the drug to combat the transmission of HIV.

The Victorian survey also saw an increase in the number of men not using condoms when having sex with casual partners. The number rose from 39 to 43 percent. While PrEP treatment is a new pathway providing protection from HIV condom use is still recommended to protect people from other sexually transmitted infections.

Tonight the initial findings from the Perth study will be presented.

The event is on this evening from 6pm-8pm. Limited spaces available RSVP is essential. Email Adam to secure a place.