Prickly, an at-home STI testing service delivered across Australia, launches as annual gonorrhoea diagnoses pass 42,000

Doctor-reviewed testing for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HIV, collected privately at home and analysed by a NATA-accredited lab – $69 with a Medicare card.

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, September 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Days after national surveillance data showed gonorrhoea diagnoses have risen 57% in a decade, a Melbourne sexual health GP has launched Prickly, an Australian at-home STI testing service with a doctor at both ends of the process – reviewing every request before collection equipment is posted, and every result before it reaches the patient’s inbox.

The Kirby Institute’s latest data, released on 15 September 2026, recorded 42,393 gonorrhoea diagnoses and 94,184 chlamydia diagnoses across Australia in 2025, with about half of chlamydia diagnoses in people aged 20 to 29. Most of these infections cause no symptoms, so regular testing is the only way to find them. A separate Kirby Institute analysis of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships found that 84% of Australians aged 16 to 49 have never been tested for an STI at all – for many, the barrier isn’t awareness, it’s the waiting room.

Prickly is built for people without symptoms. A 5-minute online request is reviewed by an Ahpra-registered Australian doctor, who confirms that at-home testing is suitable and orders the tests that match the person’s exposures. Collection equipment arrives in an unmarked mailer box by Australia Post, samples go back to the lab with a prepaid return label, and results are emailed privately 3–8 business days later. Lab samples are analysed by PCR at a NATA-accredited partner lab – the same testing a sexual health clinic uses. If a result needs action, a telehealth follow-up with a doctor is included at no extra charge, with prescriptions, referrals and help telling partners where needed.

“STI rates continue to climb, and most of the infections we find have no symptoms at all,” said Dr Tom Morley, the Melbourne sexual health GP who founded Prickly and is its Medical Director. “We built Prickly to make personalised STI testing – managed by doctors from request to result – accessible at home, anytime, so every body can play safe.”

“This isn’t a website that sells a box. It’s a clinical service that happens to arrive by post,” Dr Tom said. “A doctor decides whether at-home testing is right for you, which sites to test, and what happens next. If it isn’t right for you, we point you to the right clinic instead.”

Prickly charges one flat fee per test, with no subscriptions or memberships: $69 for Medicare card holders, with lab pathology bulk billed to Medicare; $69 for overseas student and visitor health cover holders, with pathology billed to their insurer; and $139 for a Private test that bills nothing to Medicare or an insurer and is opted out of My Health Record by default. Each fee covers doctor review, delivery and return shipping, home sample collection and follow-up.

Privacy is built into the service rather than added to it. Prickly runs no advertising trackers or analytics pixels on its website, health and payment data sit under the Australian Privacy Principles in an ISO 27001-certified medical record, and the mailer box carries nothing that identifies its contents.

Prickly tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HIV and is available to people 16 or older who are physically in Australia. Anyone with symptoms, or a possible HIV exposure in the last 72 hours, is directed to in-person care. Prickly plans to add syphilis testing when a suitable at-home option becomes available in Australia.

Prickly is available now at prickly.com.au, delivered to any Australia Post address, including PO Boxes and Parcel Lockers.

ENDS

Data sources
Diagnosis counts: Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, “STI rates remain high in Australia’s latest sexual health data”, 15 September 2026.
kirby.unsw.edu.au/news/sti-rates-remain-high-australias-latest-sexual-health-data
Gonorrhoea by year: Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, national gonorrhoea data.
data.kirby.unsw.edu.au/gonorrhoea
Testing rates: Kirby Institute analysis of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships, in “Australia’s 2024 sexual health checkup”, September 2025.
kirby.unsw.edu.au/news/increases-syphilis-and-gonorrhoea-chlamydia-stable-and-hiv-decline
The 57% decade increase: Kirby Institute 2025 national surveillance data as reported in The Guardian, 15 September 2026.
theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/15/gonorrhoea-and-syphilis-rise-by-more-than-50-in-australia

Media contact
Dr Tom Morley · hello@prickly.com.au · prickly.com.au · @pricklyhealth. Same day response. A mobile number is given on request.
Logos, pho!ographs and campaign imagery: prickly.com.au/media

Dr Tom Morley
Prickly
hello@prickly.com.au
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