WAAC (formerly, Western Australian AIDS Council) will host a free community celebration at Hyde Park on Sunday 30 November 2025 to mark World AIDS Day, bringing together communities to honour those lost to AIDS, celebrate progress, and recommit to ensuring equitable access to HIV care for all Western Australians.
The event will run from 4:30pm at the Hyde Park Amphitheatre, Perth, featuring culturally diverse entertainment, food from local vendors, and reflections on the HIV response in Western Australia and globally.
This year’s theme “No-one left behind” highlights the urgent need to tackle inequities in HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and quality of life. It focuses on improving access and outcomes for First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and those in regional and remote areas.
The theme also acknowledges Australia’s responsibility to support global initiatives and reminds us that stigma and discrimination must be addressed as they continue to hinder testing, treatment and wellbeing. It is a call for collective action to create supportive environments that enable people living with HIV to live free from stigma and discrimination.
“Australia’s HIV response is, in many respects, a public health triumph. Declining rates among gay and bisexual men prove that prevention and treatment work,” said Dr Daniel Vujcich, CEO of WAAC. “But this success story isn’t complete until all communities benefit equally. The tools that have transformed HIV outcomes – things like PrEP, rapid testing, effective treatment – must reach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, and regional Western Australians who still face barriers to care.
“On World AIDS Day, we recommit to ensuring that HIV advances are accessible to everyone. The community spirit that saved lives in the 1980s must now fuel our commitment to health equity. Our job is not done until everyone is included in the public health response to HIV.”
The event will feature vibrant performances from culturally and linguistically diverse and First Nations entertainers, food from local vendors, and reflections honouring lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses.
Everyone is welcome at this community gathering to celebrate inclusion and progress in the HIV response. WAAC is inviting Western Australians to bring picnic blankets and chairs for an easy, enjoyable evening under the trees with friends, family and community.
“On World AIDS Day, we stand with communities worldwide,” Dr Vujcich added. “Recent cuts to global HIV funding should alarm us all; they remind us that the progress we’ve achieved can be reversed without sustained investment and advocacy. We cannot be complacent. We must continue to fight for the resources, policies and programs that ensure every person living with HIV, everywhere in the world, can access the care, dignity and support they deserve.”
The free event is open to all members of the community and represents WAAC’s commitment to inclusive, culturally responsive HIV services across Western Australia.
