The supplies at the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood are set to climb thanks to a change in donation eligibility rule changes.
From today, all donors will be asked the same sexual activity questions in the pre-donation questionnaire, regardless of sexual preference.
These rule changes mean gay and bisexual men, and transgender people in long-term monogamous relationships, can donate blood and platelets.
Previous donor rules prevented many people from the LGBTQIA+ community from donating blood or platelets if they’d had sex within the past three months.
It follows on from changes to sexual activity rules for plasma donation which came in last July.
Removing the three-month wait time in the plasma donation space has enabled 3000 new donors to give close to 10,000 plasma donations since July 2025.
Lifeblood Chief Executive Officer Stephen Cornelissen said the rule changes had been extensively researched to ensure patient safety was not compromised.
“We know previous rules have been difficult for people in the LGBTQIA+ community, so we’d like to thank them for their support during this journey towards a more inclusive donation experience,” Mr Cornelissen said.
“We hope many more people will feel welcomed in our donor centres from today, and sign up to become blood donors, as a result of this change.”
It’s expected up to 20,000 extra donations of blood will be made each year as part of this change.
Every week, 33,000 donations of blood plasma and platelets are needed across Australia to help those undergoing cancer treatment, people with bleeding disorders, trauma and accident victims and many more.
