How often to get STI testing
Most STIs cause no symptoms, so regular testing is how they get found and treated. How often depends on the sex you’re having and who with. Here’s what the Australian STI Management Guidelines recommend, and when it’s worth testing in between.
Key facts
- Most sexually active people
- At least once a year
- Under 30
- At least once a year
- Men who’ve had sex with a man in the last 3 months
- Every 3 months
- On PrEP
- Every 3 months
- New partner
- A good time to test
- After treatment for chlamydia or gonorrhoea
- Test again at 3 months
Why regular testing matters
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis often cause no symptoms at all, sometimes for years. Without symptoms, testing is the only way to know. Finding an infection early means it can be treated before it causes complications, and before it’s passed on to partners.
Routine testing doesn’t need to be timed to anything. You can test at any point; the question is how often. If you’re testing after one particular exposure, though, timing matters: see how soon after sex you can test.
How often, by situation
These follow the Australian STI Management Guidelines (opens in new tab), which doctors in Australia work from. If more than one row fits you, go with the more frequent one.
| Situation | How often |
|---|---|
| Sexually active, with a new partner or more than one partner | At least once a year, and after a new partner |
| Aged under 30 | At least once a year |
| Gay, bisexual and other men who’ve had any sex with a man in the last 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Men who have sex with men, not currently sexually active or in a monogamous relationship | At least once a year |
| Taking PrEP, or eligible for it | Every 3 months |
| Using drugs during sex, such as methamphetamine or GHB | Every 3 months |
| Sex workers | Regularly, as agreed with your doctor, and more often if condoms aren’t used every time |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under 30 (under 35 in remote communities), not in a long-term monogamous relationship | Regularly, such as at your yearly health check |
| Had an STI in the last 12 months | Test again at 3 months, then as above |
Trans and gender diverse people follow the same advice, based on your anatomy and the sex you have. If you’re pregnant, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis testing is part of antenatal care, so talk to the doctor or midwife looking after your pregnancy.
When to test in between
Outside your usual routine, it’s worth testing if:
- You have a new partner. A change of partner is one of the main reasons the guidelines give for testing.
- A partner tells you they have an STI. You may need treatment before your results are back, so see a doctor rather than waiting.
- A condom broke or slipped off. Test once you’re outside the window periods, and if HIV is a possibility in the last 72 hours, see the box below first.
- You’ve had sex while travelling somewhere STIs are more common, in Australia or overseas.
- You just want to know. Asking for testing is reason enough.
If you may have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours and you’re not taking PrEP as prescribed, don’t wait to test. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can prevent HIV, but it has to start as soon as possible. Visit www.getpep.info (opens in new tab) or go to a sexual health clinic (opens in new tab) or emergency department (opens in new tab) now.
After treatment for chlamydia or gonorrhoea
Reinfection is common, often from a partner who hasn’t been treated, so the guidelines recommend testing again 3 months after treatment. This is a retest, not a check that the treatment worked.
A test of cure, which checks the infection has gone, is needed only in some situations: for gonorrhoea, it’s done 2 weeks after treatment in certain cases, and for chlamydia, it isn’t usually needed except in pregnancy or for some anal infections. Your doctor will tell you if it applies to you.
What a full check covers
The guidelines recommend that STI testing includes chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis, with hepatitis B checked if you haven’t been vaccinated, and hepatitis C for people at risk. Men who have sex with men are tested at three sites: a throat swab, an anal swab and urine.
Prickly covers chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HIV. If you test regularly with Prickly, also see a sexual health clinic (opens in new tab) or GP clinic (opens in new tab) periodically for syphilis and hepatitis blood tests. If you’re testing every 3 months, the guidelines include a syphilis blood test each time.
How at-home testing works with Prickly
Prickly is an Australian at-home STI testing service for people without symptoms. You can request testing whenever it’s due, and a doctor confirms it suits you before anything is sent.
- Request online. Complete a five-minute online request, or book a short call with a doctor – bulk billed with Medicare. Either way, a doctor confirms that at-home STI testing is suitable for you.
- Receive your equipment. Collection equipment tailored to your exposures ships the same or next business day in an unmarked mailer box with Australia Post tracking.
- Collect at home. Follow the included STI testing self-collection guide – swabs and urine for the lab, and, if you’ve added HIV testing, a fingerprick HIV self-test you read at home in 15 minutes.
- Post to the lab. Post your lab samples back the same day using the included prepaid return label – at any Australia Post Office, red street posting box or Parcel Locker.
- Get your results. A doctor reviews every lab test result and emails you privately. Telehealth follow-up included – with help accessing treatment and telling partners, if needed.
The same steps are on the home page under How it works, and fees are under Pricing.
When at-home testing isn’t right
See someone in person at a sexual health clinic (opens in new tab), GP clinic (opens in new tab) or urgent care clinic (opens in new tab) instead if you have symptoms or if you’re under 16. And if you may have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours, don’t wait for a test – visit www.getpep.info (opens in new tab) or go to a sexual health clinic (opens in new tab) or emergency department (opens in new tab) as soon as you can. If something happened without your consent, 1800RESPECT (opens in new tab) is also available 24/7 for free, confidential support.
Sources
- Australian STI Management Guidelines for use in primary care – Standard asymptomatic check-up (opens in new tab), ASHM.
- Australian STI Management Guidelines – Populations and situations (opens in new tab), ASHM, including the pages on men who have sex with men, young people, sex workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people who use drugs.
- Australian STI Management Guidelines – Chlamydia (opens in new tab), ASHM.
- Australian STI Management Guidelines – Gonorrhoea (opens in new tab), ASHM.
- Get PEP (opens in new tab).