Telling sexual partners
The legal stuff

In New Zealand, the law says that people living with HIV must take ‘reasonable precautions’ to avoid passing on HIV to their sexual partners.

Reasonable precautions are when there is no risk or almost no risk of passing on HIV.

You don’t legally have to tell your sexual partner about your HIV when you are:

• masturbating

• having oral sex

• kissing

• using condoms every time for vaginal and anal sex

Even if the law says you don’t have to tell your sexual partner about your HIV, many people feel it is the right thing to tell. That way your partner can freely say yes or no. If you only tell your partner about your HIV after having sex, your partner may stop trusting you.

If you find it too hard to tell your partner about the HIV, your HIV medical team at the hospital can help you with that. You can even bring your partner to one of your appointments where they can help you with telling your partner.

The law says you do have to tell your sexual partner about your HIV when you are:

• having vaginal or anal sex without a condom even if your viral load is undetectable