Hepatitis C in Australia: 2025 statistics

Every year, Burnet and Kirby Institutes prepare a national report with the latest hepatitis C data across Australia. The report is called Australia's progress towards hepatitis C elimination. It’s an initiative of the Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia (EC Australia) partnership led by Burnet. 

The latest report is from 2025. It showed that in Australia in 2024:

• around 63,000 people were living with hepatitis C
• over 129,000 treatments for hepatitis C had been started since 2016
• new infections have declined, particularly among women.

For more information, please contact anna.wilkinson@burnet.edu.au.

This is the seventh national report on Australia’s progress towards hepatitis C elimination. It brings together national data from surveillance, research, implementation programs, clinical and community sources.  

These combined datasets offer a unique, integrated perspective on trends in: 

• new infections 
• testing and diagnosis 
• treatment uptake and cascades of care 
• morbidity 
• stigma and discrimination 
• primary prevention 
• geographical equity 
• modelling and projections.  

Key findings 

New infections 

Hepatitis C notifications and incidence rates have continued to decline.  

Notifications are a compulsory process. Doctors and testing laboratories must let health authorities know about new hepatitis C infections.

In 2024, there were: 

• 112 notifications among men aged 15 to 19 
• 508 notifications among men aged 20 to 24 
• 40 notifications among women aged 15 to 19 
• 110 notifications among women aged 20 to 24.  

The number of notifications has declined among women since 2017.  

The incidence of hepatitis C at sentinel primary care clinics declined from 2017 to 0.16 per 100 person-years in 2024, according to data from the ACCESS project provided by Burnet's Surveillance and Data Linkage group.  

Testing and diagnosis 

Testing rates remain high in some settings but have declined or plateaued in others. Hepatitis C virus RNA prevalence has substantially declined among people attending needle and syringe services.

Treatment uptake

In 2024, 5,238 people initiated treatment for hepatitis C, known as direct-acting antiviral (DAA).

From 2016 to 2024, 129,233 treatments were started. Of these, 18,049 were retreatments, which were required because initial treatment didn’t work or people got infected again.

In 2024, 3,026 retreatment courses were initiated. Of all individuals treated in 2024, 41% were in prison settings.

At the end of 2024, an estimated 62,880 people were living with hepatitis C.

Liver disease rates

Liver-related morbidity, including hepatitis C-related liver transplants, continues to decline. There were 5 hepatitis C cirrhosis-related transplants in 2024. These findings reflect the impact of improved access to curative therapies.

Stigma and discrimination

Stigma and discrimination still prevent many people from getting the care they need. This highlights the importance of addressing the social and legal factors that affect health. Around one-third of Australians surveyed said they would behave negatively to someone with hepatitis C. Two-thirds said the same about people who inject drugs.   

Primary prevention 

Needle and syringe distribution remains stable, supporting ongoing prevention efforts. However, risk behaviours such as equipment sharing persist in some communities. In 2023, approximately 46 million needle and syringe units were distributed through public sector programs.  

Health equity 

There’s a lot of regional variation in treatment uptake, ranging from areas being 40% above to 60% below the national average. This highlights the need for tailored responses at the local level.  

Modelling and projections 

Mathematical modelling indicates that Australia is on track for substantial reductions in hepatitis C prevalence and incidence. The goal of 80% of eligible people treated would be met by 2030 under the pessimistic scenario of approximately 4,000 people treated annually. But the goal of a 65% reduction in mortality would not be met by 2030. So sustained efforts are needed to maintain progress and address remaining gaps.

Incidence is a measure of the rate of new infections in a population in a time period. Prevalence is the proportion of a population who have an infection or disease in a time period.

Modelling by Burnet's Modelling and Biostatistics group showed that the number of people living with chronic hepatitis C was projected to decline from approximately 155,000 (2015) to approximately 56,000 (2030). The proportion of people who inject drugs among those living with hepatitis C was projected to decline from 22% (2015) to 6% (2030).

Among people with recent injecting drug use, major progress has been achieved in reducing the number living with hepatitis C. But continued and expanded efforts are needed to prevent progress from stalling or regressing. 

More effort is required to understand the demographics of people living with hepatitis C who have never injected drugs or who have injected drugs but not in the past 12 months, and to improve their engagement in care. 

Can hepatitis C be eliminated?

“We've done really well so far. Made enormous progress with over 100,000 Australians being cured of hepatitis C,” said Burnet deputy director Professor Margaret Hellard.

“But we're at critical juncture where if treatment uptake doesn't increase, we're going to struggle to reach our elimination targets.”

Find out more in the video below with Professor Hellard (Source: ABC 7.30, published 28 August 2024).