On December 1, community members and organisations were recognised for their work and achievements in the fight against HIV/AIDS at the World AIDS Day Awards.
Held at Robertson Park this month, Connections Nightclub owner Tim Brown was one of nine recipients recognised for his personal efforts toward the HIV/AIDS response in Perth.
Michael Doyle received the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander award for his contribution to HIV prevention and care for indigenous people in WA.
The Health Service award was given to Clinipath for their sexual health testing services as Frank Farmer received the HIV Positive Person award for his outstanding contribution in HIV/AIDS awareness and service delivery.
Allison Cain received the Rural and Remote award for her work coordinating and supplying care for almost 200 people living in regional WA.
RTR’s All Things Queer program took out the Media award alongside Perth resident Wendy Walker for breaking down barriers in the wider community.
Last year, Walker publicly disclosed her 23 years of living with HIV to the community and then the national magazine Woman’s Day.
Youthlink was awarded the Youth award while the Group award went to the Communicable Disease Control Doctorate Department of Health.
WA AIDS Council Executive Director Trish Langdon said the awards were about recognising the ‘heroes in our community’.
‘It’s for the people who don’t get any acknowledgement, who work tirelessly behind the scenes while nobody really thanks them,’ Langdon said.
‘We’re thrilled, they are all incredibly worthy recipients.’
While the ceremony focused on the successes from the year, Langdon said the HIV response in WA continued to be a challenge.
‘Our state is different from the other states and we have different external pressures, so we’re trying hard to find more ways of engaging with our new emerging populations and dealing with new issues,’ she said.
‘In WA, we continue to be in challenging times.’
