In this paper I take the opportunity that historians rarely afford themselves: to reappraise one’s own work with the wisdom of hindsight. I reconsider Australia’s response to AIDS – often regarded as world leading – as recounted and accounted for in my book Learning to Trust, published 15 years ago. Learning to Trust remains the only full-length history of Australia’s response to AIDS, and became a foundational text for scholars who have approached the topic. It was well received upon publication and its pronouncements have largely stood the test of time. But in writing the book I was blind to some things, and did not necessarily tell the story straight (or, perhaps, it is more correct to say that I did not allow the story to be sufficiently bent). So, what did I get right in my assessment, and what did I get wrong? Were the heroes and villains correctly cast? And, as the AIDS crisis is still ongoing, what did I fail predict?