David Imber will be one of the first lining up to give life-saving blood plasma when decades-long restrictions on donations are lifted for gay and bisexual men in Australia.

The deputy chair of the Victorian Pride Centre remembers growing up during the AIDS crisis and donating blood regularly with his mum.

"The irony of losing my virginity was that I couldn't give blood anymore," he told AAP.

Restrictions on gay and bisexual men giving blood have been in place since 1983, when donations from any man who ever had sex with another man were banned during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

But the long-standing "gay blood ban" could be a thing of the past if questions about a donor's sexual activity are scrapped following a move by the country's drugs regulator.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) this week formally approved a submission from Australian Red Cross Lifeblood calling to remove most sexual activity ineligibility criteria for plasma donors.

The Red Cross asked for all questions related to sexual encounters to be withdrawn from the donation questionnaire, removing the three-month celibacy period for donors with "sexual activity-based risk factors".

Red Cross Lifeblood chief medical officer Jo Pink said it was a world-leading first step that would lead to more people coming forward to donate blood.

"Conservatively we expect to see an increase of 14,000 plasma donations from newly eligible donors," she said.

The world-first "plasma pathway" is expected to be approved, although it is still awaiting sign-off from state and territory governments, which are responsible for donor questionnaires.

It also needs the agreement of pharmaceutical company CSL Behring, which processes plasma into medication for patients.

If approved, the pathway will mean gay and bisexual men and people taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis will be able to donate blood plasma immediately as long as they meet all other eligibility criteria.

Stuart Chesneau, who oversees Lifeblood's plasma program, said plasma was a modern medical miracle because it was often the last line of defence for many health conditions and was needed in more than half of all donations.

Lifeblood said donations could be taken in a matter of months once it was given the all-clear.

The TGA said its decision was based on the evidence provided in submissions, as well as its own independent scientific, epidemiological and clinical assessments.

But the Let Us Give campaign, supported by advocacy group Just.Equal Australia, is calling for changes to donation rules to go further, saying the plasma-only option for gay men is not the answer to blood shortages or discrimination.

Spokesman Thomas Buxereau said health ministers would be lobbied to adopt a system in which all donors were assessed based on their individual risks.

Mr Imber said all Australians should have the opportunity to help each other and he would be the first in line when he was allowed to donate plasma.

"This is another barrier broken down and another win for the community with no expense to anyone's safety," he said.

"This is not a political decision, it's a decision based on science."