This radio programme looks back on the 1989 case of Sharleen Spiteri, the first HIV positive sex worker in Australia to be detained in Australia to prevent her infecting clients. Sharleen spent much of the remaining 16 years of her life under 24-hour supervision by health workers, including sex workers employed as peer educators. She became the states’ most expensive public patient in history. The case raises a range of ethical, legal and human rights issues that remain relevant beyond Australia until today.
