Innovative oral PrEP service delivery models

Innovative oral PrEP service delivery models and the policy, legal, and regulatory barriers to their implementation

To ensure HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is accessible to all, it is imperative that the Australian HIV response be informed by the global shift towards more person-centred, innovative models of oral PrEP service delivery. 

This report provides an overview of the Australian healthcare policy, legal, and regulatory environment, how it may present barriers to innovative oral PrEP service delivery models, and how these barriers may be addressed.

Key findings
  • Some PrEP models require only funding to be implemented or expanded, such as the registered nurse-supplied PrEP; private telehealth PrEP models, whose affordability relies on time-limited Medicare items; and pilot public telehealth PrEP services, which are limited by temporary funding arrangements.
  • Policies could be amended to integrate self-sampling kits, or HIV point-of-care tests and self-tests into PrEP models; or to allow 6–12-month PrEP follow-up consultations and 60-day PrEP prescriptions.
  • Pharmacy-led and key population-led healthcare models exist or are being trialled domestically, however integrating PrEP into these models will likely need to be legislated.