A bold new public awareness campaign launching today aims to improve knowledge and information around hepatitis B, delivering a simple but powerful message to communities across Australia: You Can't Get Hep B Here.
Developed by Burnet Institute and Hepatitis B Voices Australia, and funded by the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the campaign was co-designed with community members to ensure the messaging is culturally relevant and grounded in the lived experience of people with hepatitis B. The campaign materials will be available in Vietnamese and Chinese, with radio advertising airing in Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin, and is culturally responsive to the needs of addressing the needs of the communities most affected by hepatitis B in Australia.
Chronic hepatitis B infection can cause death from liver damage and liver cancer; however, they are preventable with effective access to health services providing diagnosis, treatment and care. In 2024, an estimated 227,571 people in Australia were living with chronic hepatitis B, with treatment uptake of 12.7%, less than half the National Strategy target of 27% by 2030.
Australia has set a target to eliminate hepatitis B as a public health threat by 2030, with improved community awareness identified as a priority action. The World Health Organisation has set matching global elimination targets for 2030, focused on increasing diagnosis, linkage to care and treatment rates, but significant barriers remain to achieving these goals in Australia.
The data makes it clear why culturally tailored outreach is essential. Almost 40 per cent of people with hepatitis B in Australia speak a Chinese language at home, and 15.5 per cent speak Vietnamese, yet information in these languages has remained scarce.
Burnet Institute brings more than five decades of expertise to this challenge. Hepatitis B research at Burnet and its predecessor, the Fairfield Hospital Virus Laboratory, dates to the early 1970s, making it one of Australia's longest-running programs dedicated to the virus. Today, Burnet takes a multifaceted approach to hepatitis B elimination, with research projects designed to address the key goals of the WHO's global hepatitis B elimination program, spanning prevention, diagnosis, treatment and community engagement.
Associate Professor Jessica Howell, Burnet Senior Research Fellow and Co-Head of Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer, said the campaign responds to a critical gap in community knowledge.
"For more than 50 years, Burnet has been working to understand, prevent and ultimately eliminate hepatitis B. We know that fear is one of the biggest obstacles, and when hepatitis B feels threatening or embarrassing, people avoid information altogether," she said.
“This campaign is about changing that. By being honest, clear and culturally grounded, we want people to feel informed and empowered, not afraid.
"Understanding how hepatitis B is and isn't transmitted is the single most powerful lever we have to motivate access to testing, vaccination and engagement with care."
Hepatitis B Voices Australia, a community-first-led organisation governed by people living with and affected by hepatitis B, ensures the communities most affected are engaged in the national response. Lien Tran, a spokesperson for the organisation, said the community's involvement in shaping this campaign made a real difference.
"For a long time, misinformation has caused so much unnecessary shame and isolation for people living with hepatitis B. This campaign speaks the truth in our languages, in our voices, and it reflects what our communities actually need to hear,” Ms Tran said.
“You can't get hepatitis B from sharing a meal or a cup of tea and knowing that can change everything; it can help people get tested, get vaccinated, and get the support they deserve."
Director-General of the Australian CDC, Professor Zoe Wainer, said the campaign is an excellent example of what can be achieved when people with lived experience help shape the conversation.
"We are working towards a future where hepatitis B is no longer a public health challenge in Australia, and this campaign is an important step towards that goal,” Professor Wainer said.
"Support for initiatives like this is essential to our response, as everyone deserves access to health information that reflects their needs and resonates with their communities.”
You Can't Get Hep B Here will roll out across poster and radio channels in the coming weeks. For more information about the campaign, visit: www.livewellwithhepb.com.au
