Australians are slack about getting tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but a new program could mean getting checked is as easy as going to the loo on a night out.

Basil Donovan from the National Centre for HIV Epidemiology and Research has told triple j's Hack program he is about to release research showing only 4 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women aged between 16 to 25 get tested in any one year.

He says in Canada the figure is 30 per cent of 16 - 25s.

One solution could be taking the tests to where young people gather to pee: pub toilets.

While they don't have the sterile feel of a clinic, a program where health workers offer collection cups to punters in pub loos is working in the UK.

Jason Warriner, the clinical director for the UK-based Terrence Higgins Trust, says the group has been testing people in pubs, at festivals and footy matches since 2008.

"Waiting for people to come to us doesn't really work," he said.

The idea is you hand back your sample and your phone number.

Mr Warriner says it is about normalising sexual health practices and making the experience more convenient.

"The result is sent by text message, if someone has a positive result we'll give them a phone call," he said.

Kath Albury, lecturer in sexual culture from the University of NSW, thinks taking sexual health into the community is a good idea.

"Everyone's going to have to pee at some stage [and] given that so many people have chlamydia with no symptoms and they can have it for years and not know and it has such repercussions for people's fertility, I think just peeing in the cup is a really good start," she said.

Amy, 26, told triple j that she gets regular STI checks.

After a positive result she informed her sexual partners since her last check, and was surprised by their responses.

"Only one of the eight people had ever been tested before, and their ages ranged from early 20's to early 30's."