Bendigo man Jack*, now 24, was only 19 when he received the HIV positive diagnosis from his doctor. 

“My mum asked me: ‘How long do you have to live?’. I explained to her that it's not like that,” Jack said. 

The shock of the diagnosis was compounded by the distress in his mother’s question.

Five years on, he has found a medication that works for him, but stigma and rife misinformation are still the biggest battles for a person living with HIV. 

In fact, the person handing down the medical findings can have a big impact – Jack said the diagnosing doctor could, and should, have delivered news of his condition in a much more positive way. 

“It was very, very blunt … finding out news like that is going to change someone's life,” he said. 

“Being a country town, I feel there is little knowledge about HIV so the stigma is very, very real.

“I think it's just the unknowing that they're worried about.”

Melbourne-based Glenn Filbin, who is living with HIV, shared his own story about how HIV ravaged his body and claimed the life of five of his friends in the 80s and 90s.

Mr Filbin said HIV is now a manageable syndrome, not a death sentence, but “it’s still no excuse to have flagrant unprotected, unsafe sex”. 

Mr Filbin said he had one “unguarded moment”, having unprotected sex after a cocktail of alcohol and other drugs reduced his self-awareness. 

He was tested and handed a “negative” diagnosis.

“I thought I’d dodged a bullet,” he said. 

But four and a half years later, he became so ill he was on the verge of death.

Mr Filbin’s  HIV diagnosis was positive after all. He had no immune system. He suffered a stroke and was paralysed down the left side for four months.

He had to teach himself to speak again, limited to only four words – “hi”, “bye”, “yes”, “no”.

He has had multiple hip replacements after the medication attacked his bones, which are now a jumble of plastic and porcelain. 

“When we were young, we all thought we were invincible. Illness belonged to the elderly, it didn't belong to young people,” Mr Filbin said. 

“I didn't think it would affect me and my friends. But it does, and it can affect you.” 

Last year, 1081 new diagnoses of HIV were made in Australia. More than 27,000 Australians are living with HIV, but about 12 per cent of those are unaware they carry the infection. 

Victoria saw the highest increase (40 per cent) over a 10-year period and 10 per cent of Victorians living with HIV are outside of Melbourne. 

Country Awareness Network community support worker Paula McCluskey said it was crucial to accept and respect local people living with HIV, while Bendigo and District Aboriginal Cooperative CEO Raylene Harradine urged young people to not become complacent, but to get checked and have safe sex.  

Jack said while there were plenty of places to get information about the sexually-transmitted infection, people may not feel comfortable asking the hard questions.

He encouraged them to learn something new about the condition and said his close friends, family and the Country Awareness Network had been pillars of support to him. A remembrance celebration was held in Rosalind Park last night. 

*Jack is a pseudonym to protect his identity.