The University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute has released its Annual Surveillance Report, showing over 1700 people were diagnosed with the potentially deadly bacterial disease in Australia last year - a 34 per cent increase on the number documented in 2009.



The report says unprotected sex between men is the main driver of new syphilis diagnoses between 2009 and 2013.



Colin Batrouney from the Victorian Aids Council says unsafe sexual practices is a major concern.



"We are actually seeing an increase in what we call unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners, so that's basically people not using condoms when they have casual sexual hook-ups. In 2014 that was around 36 per cent of men," he said.



He says the solution to preventing the rise in infections needs to be two-fold.



"We need to push the safe sex message more and I think we need to reiterate the importance of regular sexual health testing. Also for people to understand the symptoms of syphilis can be confused for other things."



Associate Professor David Wilson, one of the authors of the report, says while syphilis remains far less common than many other sexually transmitted diseases in Australia, the trend is concerning.



"There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the sexual lives of young people and what they're taught about at school. The data on condom use only shows decreases in use, we're not seeing any increases."

The report also shows that the number of hepatitis C deaths has more than doubled in the past decade. Over 10,000 people are diagnosed with the virus each year, and consequently around 630 Australians died from hepatitis C-related liver failure and liver cancer last year, the report says.



The report identifies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations as being most at risk of contracting an STI.



Jason Agostino from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation says this isn't a new occurance.



"We're constantly trying to increase the number of young adults who we're testing for sexually transmitted diseases, because in most cases if we pick up things early and treat it we can prevent spread and we can prevent further complications for the patient."



He says one of the biggest issues that affect the figures of Indigenous people with sexually transmitted diseases is simply access to remote health care.



"We're really trying to work really hard in getting that 15-25 year-old age group, getting them into clinics and getting them health checks and getting them tested for these STI's."

"We're constantly trying to reach out to them and get them into the clinics."



Gonorrhoea rates have also increased.



In 2013, there were almost 15,000 new diagnosis of the infection, commonly called the 'clap' - an 81 per cent increase on the past five years.



However, in good news, the surveillance report says chlamydia rates have slightly declined for the first time in recent history, although it remains the most common STI.



The report also says cases of genital warts among women have dropped dramatically. Associate Professor David Wilson says the introduction of the Human Papillomavirus vaccination (HPV) program in 2007 is the reason for the decline.



"Among young girls attending sexual health clinics about 13 per cent of them had genital warts the first time they came, these days it's now about one per cent and that dramatic decline is just contributable to this HPV vaccine," he says.