NEW WAAC CHAIRPERSON
After serving on the Board of the WA AIDS Council for ten years, with the last seven as Chairperson, Russell King has decided to hand over the reins. King is well known in the gay and lesbian community having served on the board of Gay and Lesbian Community Services and other community organisations in Perth.
Don Baxter, the Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations thanked Mr King for his contribution to WAAC saying, ‘I would like to thank him for his very substantial contribution and sage advice and input to our work over the years.’
WAAC’s Executive Director, Trish Langdon added ‘I personally would like to thank Russell for the incredible job he has done as Chairperson and his unstinting leadership of the WA AIDS Council as well as his outstanding commitment to the HIV/AIDS and GLBT cause in WA and Australia’.
In a statement to the WAAC AGM on the 26th of September, Mr King said:
‘I have seen the fortunes of the organisation fluctuate, but I have never failed to see the determination of everybody involved to make a difference. I am confident that WAAC is in safe hands and wish the Council and all associated with it my very best wishes and every success in its work’,
The new Chairperson, Willie Rowe, has been on the WA AIDS Council Board of Management for the past nine years with most of those as Treasurer. Mr Rowe brings extensive experience in government, political and lobbying processes and currently works as a consultant in the private sector and government.
WAAC WINS VOLUNTEER AWARD
Volunteers are the backbone of the Western Australian AIDS Council (WAAC) and their hard work has been recognized by winning the 2007 National Australia Bank’s Volunteer Award for a large organization in Western Australia.
‘The WA AIDS Council is absolutely thrilled to receive this award and is very appreciative of the National Australia Bank for making it possible,’ said Trish Langdon, Executive Director of the WA AIDS Council.
‘It is great that a large organization like the NAB recognizes the intrinsic worth of human beings, particularly in important endeavors like volunteering.’
The 250 volunteers who work with the WAAC range in age from 18 to 80 and provide support to people living with HIV/AIDS and their carers alongside the council’s staff. Cutting edge prevention and education services are provided through peer-based services via anonymous telephone lines, the internet and direct outreach. 350 volunteers also helped to stage the tenth annual STYLEAID this year.
WAAC volunteers are highly regarded in WA and Australia because of the broad range of skills and experience they gain at the council. Staff are often recruited from the volunteer pool and currently 60% of the WAAC staff started working as volunteers.
While based in Perth, WAAC volunteers have also been taking the council’s message to regional WA with a public speaking program called ‘Talking HIV’ in which people with HIV provide personal perspectives on what it is like to live with the disease.
As part of the NAB Volunteer Award, the WAAC received $10,000 and represented WA at the national final of the award.
