Although the proportion of participants reporting using a needle or syringe after another person (sharing) in the preceding month was low, it is consistent with other research examining transitions to injecting [31], but lower than Australian national estimates of this behaviour [16]. It is possible that the data is subject to a social desirability bias and thus under-reported. Participants reported comparatively high levels of 'indirect' sharing (sharing injecting paraphernalia other than needles and syringes), a phenomenon recently found to significantly and independently increase the risk of HCV transmission [34]. This behaviour was reported more often by those who reported teaching someone to inject in the 12 months preceding interview. That those who are more likely to engage in this behaviour are also teaching others to inject is cause for concern, as it has the potential to perpetuate the problem of injecting related risk taking behaviour among new recruits.
