Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Forty years ago, in the midst of a health crisis, a group of volunteers came together to fight for their lives and the lives of others. It was the beginning of ACON, the AIDS Council of NSW, formed in 1985 under the banner Fighting for Our Lives. From that meeting at the New South Wales Teachers Federation hall grew a movement that would defined Australia's HIV responsible decades to come.

Back then HIV was devastating our community. There was fear, stigma and silence, but ACON spoke up. They educated, they cared and they campaigned. They saved lives. Within two years, ACON of opened its first office in Surrey Hills and established branches in the Hunter, Illawarra and Northern Rivers to reach regional communities.

From organising the Make AZT Available rally to helping draft Australians first national AIDS strategy, ACON made sure the community had a voice on the table, while, on the ground, volunteers distributed safe-sex packs from Oxford Street bars and established one of the first community-run counselling services for people living with HIV.

Through the 1990s, as antiretroviral therapies offered hope for the first time, ACON adapted its services to support people living longer with HIV and to address new health challenges: mental health, addiction and community safety.

The launch of the Ending HIV campaign in 2013 and ACON's leadership on PrEP rapid testing and U=U—that's undetectable equals untransmissible—were campaigns I was proud to back, and they've brought us within reach of eliminating HIV transmissions entirely in Australia, something I am convinced that we can achieve as a nation.

Over the years, ACON's had lots of great programs: Fun & Esteem, one of the world's first peer education initiatives for gay men; Pride in Diversity; and Pride in Sport; the Red Ribbon Appeal in 2008. All of these were organised and pursued by incredible volunteers, like the late Betty Hounslow, and those volunteers from 1985 who met fear with courage.

As health minister, I was proud to support the efforts of ACON. I know that this parliament has long recognised that inclusive health policy saves lives. I say to the current leadership of ACON, under the absolutely marvellous Michael Woodhouse, that I know that ACON will continue to be a voice for compassion and courage in our community and will continue to deliver, because it's pride, not prejudice, that will guide our future.

See this speech in context