2018 AGM pays tribute to our founders
Living Positive Victoria’s 2018 AGM was held on Thursday 18 October. On the occasion of our 30th anniversary, LPV President, Christabel Millar paid special tribute to those individuals who laid the path that sees this organisation in such a strong position today.
“I cannot quite begin to impress upon you how much Living Positive Victoria’s success today is exactly thirty years in the making and is owed to the phenomenal foresight of our founders. The HIV legends who created the foundations of Living Positive Victoria provided us with a lighthouse to steer ourselves to when our community had no support and no safe spaces. These individuals had the vision to create a strong governance model that could and would survive beyond their own lives. They led the way by insisting on nothing about us without us and created a governance structure that would always allow People Living with AIDS (as we were first known) to advocate for ourselves and each other, to speak out about our own lived experiences to help others, build resilience, remain connected and put the real faces and human beings to the front of the epidemic. The impact of that sits with me every day that I have the privilege to help govern this organisation” said Christabel Millar, LPV President.
In his address to the AGM, CEO, Richard Keane shared his forward vision for Living Positive Victoria as to “embody a whole of population philosophy when it comes to people living with and affected by HIV in our state. There has been a significant shift in the notifications data this year with numbers of people born overseas outnumbering those born here in new diagnosis of HIV across populations. This requires new partnerships and new ways of partnering with a diverse range of communities, which includes us supporting and even auspicing smaller community grants for migrant populations to engage at the grass roots and lead the conversations around what are appropriate and effective interventions that resonate with their communities.”
Christabel Millar went on to say that “Living Positive Victoria believes in true diversity and how social connectedness and personal resilience building of all people living with HIV/AIDS is as vital now as it was the day this organisation began. We would not be able to do this if it were not for our elders who understood that a sense of community and being part of that community is paramount in the fight to end HIV and AIDS once and for all.”