The Mandatory Disease Testing Act is intended to protect the health of government employees through mandatory blood testing of a person whose bodily fluids have come into contact with a worker from certain government agencies in NSW. These agencies include law enforcement, corrective services, health and emergency services.

This is the first report following commencement of the Act, covering the first 18 months of the Act’s operation.

Key findings

• The Act is mostly being used in cases where there is no real risk of a worker contracting a blood-borne disease.
• Misapplication of the Act itself may be contributing to misinformation and misunderstanding about the transmissibility of blood-borne diseases.
• No evidence was found that the Act is improving the health and wellbeing of workers.
• Protections for people to be tested under the Mandatory Disease Testing scheme are largely ineffective.
• The Act is disproportionately impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• There is a lack of legal obligation for workers to maintain confidentiality of third party test results.
• Senior officers of agencies are ill-equipped to be making determinations about Mandatory Testing Orders.

Key recommendations

1. That consideration be given to whether the Act should be continued at all.
2. If the Act is continued, that all applications supported by the worker’s employer should be determined by the court (and not senior officers).