Backpackers travelling to Australia are picking up some unwanted hitchhikers.
Backpackers travelling to Australia are putting their sexual health in danger by taking risks they wouldn’t consider back home.
The Sydney Sexual Health Care Centre conducted an eight year study which focused on backpackers originating from the UK and Ireland who were in their mid-twenties and who were travelling to Australia. They found that amongst the backpackers, binge drinking and unprotected sex was typical behaviour. As a result of this promiscuity, STDs such as Chlamydia and herpes were being spread amongst the local Australian population.
50% of the males studied said that they had more than two sexual partners n the last 3 months, with 30% of women admitting to the same. Half of all the backpackers admitted to having sex with someone new whilst they were backpacking and 10% of those questioned had a sexual encounter in Thailand in the previous year – Thailand is a popular halfway stop off point between Australia and the UK.
More worryingly the study discovered binge-drinking amongst the young people soared when they went backpacking. Men were three times more likely to binge-drink whilst travelling and women were twice as likely.
However before we start making judgements about backpackers, the study also compared the travellers with local Australians of the same age and found that whilst just 22% of backpackers consistently used a condom, in the local population the figures were even worse, with just 19% using a condom regularly.
The study concludes that; “Backpackers should be a priority population for sexual health promotion and access to services.” Sexual health authorities will now target backpackers to try and stem the rise in STDs in Australia amid fears that the travellers are passing on the diseases to local Australians.
However it’s all very well laying the blame squarely on the shoulders of backpackers who travel to Australia, yet the study clearly shows that only 19% of local Australians bothered to use condoms regularly. Whilst the thrill and excitement of travelling around a foreign country may make Brits lose their inhibitions, equally local Aussies need to be responsible for their own sexual health too.
Sexual health clinics in Australia are free to use for both locals and travellers and as the study was conducted on visitors to the clinic, it does show a willingness on the part of young people to seek help and treatment.
The advice is the same to young travellers worldwide – be sensible, take precautions. If you want to find out more about backpacking around Australia we have compiled a great Gap Year in Australia guide on how to get around and where to stay all on a budget. Just remember when you are packing for your trip of a lifetime, make sure that condoms are on your essentials list or you’ll be bringing home some unwanted souvenirs.
Love Australia? Let us keep you informed...
- Join the Embrace Australia community today. Have your questions answered by our experts, start your own blog, get vital migration information and gain valuable insight from those who have already made the journey.
- Subscribe to our RSS Feed and have all our daily news and features delivered straight to your news reader.
- Join our mailing list -
