Senior Lecturer AIDS Training Corrective Services Academy

rison officer AIDS training within the New South Wales prison system has experienced many difficulties and changes in the past three years. The main source of problems has been the anxieties and fears of the prison officers themselves, having to face the complex issue of managing HIV positive inmates within the prison system. Many of these anxieties appear to have originated from ignorance and misinterpretation of facts, combined with media publicity concerning AIDS transmission in the workplace. This paper will describe the education programs which have been implemented over the past two years by the Prisons AIDS Project to help officers come to terms with the everyday problems concerned with managing their working life and dealing with AIDS related issues simultaneously. Background As early as March 1987 attempts were made to introduce officers to some form of AIDS education. The group targeted initially was divisional heads, superintendents and othe