Queers of the Desert


An AIDS Council for Central Australia (1987-02)


AIDS has never been a gay disease. However, throughout the early years of the epidemic  in this country it was clearly gay men who were most affected and accordingly took up the first positions in the front line against it. Central Australia was no different and throughout the late 80's and 90's a small group of gay men, lesbians and their friends played an instrumental role in shaping the local response. Perhaps the single greatest act in this regard was the establishment of Australia's only regional AIDS council.

By 1987 most of the queer population in the Centre were familiar with reports of the sickness
spreading in the southern cities. Some of us had already lost friends. But the prevailing belief was that we somehow remained immune, and there were even recent arrivals who cited escaping the virus as their reason for relocating to the country's perceived point of greatest isolation. Although local medical authorities had not yet taken us into their confidence, that belief was patently false and several individuals in the region had already been diagnosed and were receiving treatment. It would only be a few years before their names would appear publicly on AIDS quilts.

Around that time a small group of health professionals had started meeting
regularly in town to share information and liaise on the issue. There was no community participation in the group. All this was to change with the visit of Warren Talbot, the recently appointed National Coordinator of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations. As the first issue of Hot Gossip reported, Warren was touring the nation fostering the development of the community response to AIDS. After discussions with the local committee and meetings with Central Network representatives, Sr Shirley-Anne Bailey from the NT Health & Community Services' (NTDHCS) STD clinic and Dr Rob Moodie from Central Australian Aboriginal Congress facilitated the attendance of Jim Buckell and myself at one of the group's meetings. Once we had recovered from the shock that some members of the group enjoyed swapping AIDS jokes, and provided them with reassurance that we were not radical gay activists with a takeover plan, we mutually agreed to consider us joining their team.

Just over a year later the Central Australian AIDS Action Group (CAAAG) was meeting regularly outside NTDHCS premises and with a range of community participants from diverse mainstream organisations.
Recognising that more substantial funding was needed if the organisation was to survive and grow, we had authored a report CAAAG and AIDS in Central Australia as a submission to the NT government and consequently secured a modest grant of $5,000 via the then Northern Territory AIDS Council (NTAC). This allowed us to rent office space from the Family Planning Association (FPA) a few days each week with Jim acting as our very part-time staff, planning media and public education campaigns. By August we had begun the process of incorporation and set the date for our first AGM in September. Going in to the AGM our interim committee consisted of me as president, Serena Ruediger from the newly founded NTDHCS AIDS/STD Education Unit as vice-president, David Batty of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association as secretary/ treasurer and Jim as public officer. No record is available but, as I recall, the AGM did not produce any changes in that line-up.

From the very outset we were dealing directly with gay men facing the virus. Richard was only just starting to recover from the death of Bruce, having waited at his request until after the funeral to contact us, and Paul and I went round to meet him and help start clearing out the wardrobe as his first step in moving on. Pete was starting to get sick and had made up his mind to leave town. We gave him someone to visit and discuss his crisis with. Eric Michaels was on the phone to Jim from his hospice bed in Brisbane, with never-to-be-fulfilled plans of a dash back across the desert for a dramatic ending that sent us scurrying to arrange care and accommodation for him. And we would soon hear from Gavin, who would become our first gay men's educator, positive person's representative and main client all in one.

As well as channelling NT government funds to us NTAC had also very generously allowed us to take up one of their two seats at AFAO's national committee meetings. The string attached to these arrangements was that our group not identify itself as an AIDS Council, NTAC insisting there was only room for one in the Territory. We complied and, despite repeated invitations, also declined the offer to become a branch office of the Top End operation. After all, we were already servicing a region that stretched for hundreds of kilometres in all directions crossing several state boundaries with regional needs and interests distinctly different from theirs.

Although our NT grant was increased to $6,000 in 1988 it was still grossly inadequate to meet the needs of the rapidly growing organisation and, thanks to Jim's and my representations, several rural outreach grants totalling $12,600 had been received from AFAOby the end of the year. The increased funds allowed us to leave the FPA and rent a small shopfront in the largely derelict Grandad's arcade that once existed at the north end of Todd Mall. We established these premises as the SafeSexWorks with a grand opening by the Minister and the Mayor at the end of January 1989.

Megan Brooks, who had strong connections with a broad range of our client groups, was initially employed to staff the SafeSexWorks for a whole 20 hours each week, plus a lot of unpaid overtime. We subsequently also employed Gavin Dale, an HIV positive man who had fled
the gossip and his job as a chef at Ayers Rock Resort, to serve as gay and bisexual men's officer allowing Megan to focus more on services to sex workers and intravenous drug users.

News of the impending demolition of the arcade to make way for a shopping plaza gave us all the incentive we needed to leave our cheap but unsuitable location and relocate to the first floor of the Heenan building at the opposite end of the mall - substantially larger and a bit more comfortable, but shared with a number of friendly small businesses via a discreet street entrance. In response to Megan and Gavin's increasing difficulty in managing clients, education and administration together we employed first Sabina Crawley and then Margie Collins to manage the accounts on a very part-time basis. It was from here that we planned and executed our biggest venture to date, the Central Australian AIDS Conference held in April 1990 which Jo Harrison was also briefly employed to organise.

While the conference certainly took its toll on committee members, staff and volunteers, it was not the reason for the tremendous changes that 1990 would bring to CAAAG. Facing declining health and difficulty in accessing treatments Gavin had decided to leave town with
his partner Linden and return to Sydney in June. He would pass away in St Vincent's Hospice just 8 months later. After six years in the desert Paul and I were feeling the need to take a break and were heading south to try our luck in Perth, with a detour through Canberra to report on Central Australian issues at the Fourth National AIDS Conference that August.

A new board and executive officer at NTAC had seen our partnership with Darwin strained as opposition to our independence intensified and our seat on the AFAO committee was summarily withdrawn. In a spirit of true retaliation a motion was passed at the 1990 AGM to change the organisation's name to the AIDS Council of Central Australia.
Those elected that year were president Di Lane, vice-president Tom Moore, secretary/ treasurer Peter Strickland, public offer Nick Johnson and ordinary members Hinton Lowe, Serena Reudiger and Jo Harrison. At least five of the seven were publicly queer.

Unfortunately
, by December, failed relations between Megan and the new ACOCA committee would see her too depart to Sydney. That month also saw two of the three gay men on the committee resign, to be replaced by Amanda Collinge and Kerry Leitch, a new NTDHCS staff member. Gavin's replacement, David Ben David from the AIDS Council of South Australia, would also only last nine months in his position. He was replaced by Alexa Young, who left a position as nurse/ educator with the NTDHCS unit to become ACOCA's full-time women's educator/ counsellor. Some additional funding allowed Jim to be employed as administrative coordinator with additional responsibility for gay and bisexual men's projects while Tony Hand came on board to work with clients who inject. Margie continued to work on limited hours throughout the year diligently balancing the council's books.

The other massive change for
ACOCA was the relocation to its final premises in the Gagliardi Building on Todd Street, opposite Melanka Lodge. As well as providing the staff with more spacious accommodation it also placed the council in clear public view, which was great for its profile, but just a little intimidating for some clients. The grand opening took place on April 17, 1991 with local MLA, Eric Poole officiating in the absence of Territory Health & Community Services Minister, Daryl Manzie, supported by the Reverend Stephen Williams from the Anglican Church, but without formal representation from affected communities.



Centralian Advocate: April 18, 1991 p?
© News Ltd: used with permission.
New centre for AIDS focus

By DOROTHY GRIMM

Central Australia's latest headquarters in the war against AIDS was officially opened on Wednesday.
People at the opening were told attitudes to the disease were changing and the region's transient population made the hospitality industry a prime target of attention by the AIDS Council of Central Australia.
MLA Eric Poole, ACOCA co-ordinator Jim Buckell and Alice Springs Anglican Parish rector Stephen Williams all spoke to the crowd of health workers and carers who filled the building.
Mr Buckell described the development of ACOCA in Alice Springs, the Commonwealth and Territory government matched funding and the services available to people in Alice Springs.
These services included needle exchange, the AIDS unit at the former Bindi Centre, one-to-one counselling including a woman counsellor, education materials and a youth outreach program.
"We hope to extend our service to the hospitality industry," Mr Buckell said.
"With Alice Springs having such a transient population of short-term visitors, we hope to provide information in each accommodation facility advising of our services and safe sex supplies.
"To date our services to the hospitality industry have been less than adequate."
Filling in for Health and Community Services Minister Daryl Manzie, Mr Poole provided the history of ACOCA from the government and political point· of view and the desire of ACOCA to upgrade staff positions.
"Times have changed," he said.
"Once politicians would run for the bush rather than be identified with issues such as the needle exchange program and the AIDS Council."

Mr Williams told the group that the community must become aware of AIDS and work towards the prevention of its spread while also providing a caring and supportive environment for those affected by the disease."
Describing his experience as rector in the inner city of Sydney, he recalled when many people were dying without anyone realising the cause.
He also saw the disease spread from one of the rich, international traveller to that of the poor and depressed.
"We must do all we can to prevent the spread of the disease," Mr Williams said.
"People must not confuse the moral issue with the very real health issue.
"We need to be educating our children, one another, and everyone we know, about the prevention of the spread of AIDS.
"We must be responsible in all our behavior; there are many things than can be done.
"Care must be given, to those who have AIDS; it is possible to care, in a joyful way, for the people who are sick.
"I've never seen a family not rally around a member who was sick nor a community who was not able to cope.
"Yet when I read that people cannot take the measles issue seriously I wonder how they can take AIDS seriously."
ACOCA's new office is at 119 Todd Street.

o Reverend Stephen Williams, AIDS educator/counselor Alexa Young, ACOCA co-ordinator Jim Buckell, and MLA Eric Poole at the official opening of the AIDS Council new premises on Todd Street


However, while happily announcing the substantial increase in staff and new premises, the annual report for 1991 also sadly reflected plummetting client statistics for the first half of the year, although this was attributed to staffing changes and consequent under-reporting. Surprisingly the president's report also credited my departure for all the improvements.



We began the year with the imminent departure of our President of three year's standing, John Hobson. John worked tirelessly over his time with ACOCA to establish the organisation and to secure our present funding base. His departure prompted a degree of soul-searching, which eventually led to the restructuring process which will be dealt with below. One of the noteworthy results of John's departure has been that the committee has functioned more as a working team in the absence of a President with such a firm grasp of the issues confronting the organisation. Our initial self-doubts about our ability to fill his shoes have been vanquished as the Council has been able to attract top-rate staff, and draw on the collective skills of many members of the community who have been only too happy to contribute as committee members. volunteers and supporters in the many activities and programs we have run over the year.

AIDS Council of Central Australia. (1991). Annual Report 1991(unpublished).



On arrival in Perth I took up a position as a health officer in the Murray Street STD clinic, a radical change from my previous role as linguist in an Aboriginal bilingual school, but an excellent use of the experience I had gained dealing with CAAAG's clients. My foot in the door there was another health officer, Shirley-Anne Bailey, who had been instrumental in getting gay men involved in the establishment of CAAAG three years earlier. While the work at the clinic was rewarding for me Paul was finding it very difficult to get full-time work. So, nine months later, after me being invited to apply and a gruelling interview process, we found ourselves driving back through Alice to Darwin where I was to become, of all things, the executive officer of NTAC.

Unfortunately that move did not go well.
Unbeknown to me, NTAC was then an organisation at war with itself and my appointment had been a highly politicised decision that only served to further polarise the warring factions. Faced with a hostile executive whose strategies included refusing to pay the staff's superannuation to provoke an industrial dispute, Paul and I decided to call it quits and seek refuge back in Alice. Sadly, this proved not to be far enough for Paul and he soon went on to take an extended holiday in Sydney that, within a few months, became permanent.

Back in Alice I was surprised at the great changes that had overtaken ACOCA and dismayed to hear that the last remaining openly gay man on the committee, Peter Strickland, had recently resigned. The nature of the organisation was clearly very different. Current and former NTDHCS staff were now heavily represented on both ACOCA's staff and committee, but gay and bisexual men's services were only a part-time role for the office coordinator.

After my recent experiences in the Top End I was keen to stay well clear of AIDS politics, but did agree to take up one of the vacant ordinary member positions on the committee when the invitation came. Volunteering to spend time in the offices to set up their new computer networking I couldn't help but notice a great deal of clerical work being performed and the
planning of workshops for very low risk groups, but almost no sign of any clients. My foolishness in raising this observation, and my impression that the council now seemed to have taken over many of NTDHCS' responsibilities to the neglect of its traditional target groups, produced a request from one of the (former NTDHCS) staff to the next council meeting for committee members to be banned from the premises henceforth! Like many gay men in town before me I decided that the new-look ACOCA was no longer a place for us and largely stayed away from then onward.

But, despite any misgivings about the organisation's directions, I was still prepared to be there if needed, even if it involved being a dickhead in public with Jim and Paul.


 
Get smart, cover yourself!


Giant condoms were on the march in the Todd Mall this week as part of a promotion for World AIDS Day on Sunday.

AIDS day activities will be held at the GapView Resort Hotel this Sunday from 3.30 pm. Hotel patrons will have the chance to win 38 prizes donated by Alice Springs businesses.

Volunteers will be asking patrons to answer questions and take part in competitions with the themes of safe sex and safe needle use.

AIDS Council co-ordinator Jim Buckell said the theme for this year was "Sharing the Challenge".

"The idea is to convey the message that AIDS affects each and every one of us," Mr Buckell said.

"No one can afford to be complacent about AIDS and it means each of us accepting the responsibility to protect ourselves and our partners."

  • Giant condoms were on the march in Todd Mall this week making sure the "If it's not on, It's not on" message got through to Centralians.

Centralian Advocate: November 28, 1991 p1
© News Ltd: used with permission.


The situation improved markedly with the appointment of Chris Rowe, a former volunteer with the Victorian AIDS Council, who became ACOCA's first full-time gay and bisexual men's officer in mid-1992. Together with other staff and the committee he helped implement the Summer of Safer Sex campaign later that year and the You're Not Alonecampaign the following one, targeting young gay and bisexual men. Unfortunately both would also see him and ACOCA embroiled in public controversy and ultimately contribute to his decision to leave town in the second half of 1993.

Chris was replaced in August that year by Phil Walcott, a psychologist from Sydney, who remained with ACOCA until, "i
nternal politics combined with a clash of personality issues" drove him too to leave in November 1994. Phil remains in Alice and was one of the entrepreneurs behind the highly successful, and similarly controversial, Alice IS Wonderland festivals. He also worked alongside John Cross, from Central Australian Aboriginal Congress to facilitate the inaugural Anwernekenhe conference for Indigneous Australian queer men at Hamilton Downs as his last task before leaving ACOCA.

Other gay men like Phil, a nurse from the hospital, and Tony Cooper, manager of the YHA, took up the position of president in those years as did Jo Harrison and Sue Smith, who were always prepared to see ACOCA stand up for issues important to the Council's queer clientele. But, h
aving left town for the last time myself at the end of '94, I am not in a position to comment on the progress and eventual demise of ACOCA from that point. Stories of failing management, fraudulent conduct by some staff and suspicious house fires have become part of oral history in Alice's queer community. Suffice to say that ACOCA finally closed its doors in late 2002, around the time the Fraud Squad dropped in and NTDHCS seized all its assets and files. Several requests for access to those records have met with no response.

John Hobson

Postscript: ACOCA was replaced in 2004 by a branch office of the NT AIDS & Hepatitis Council.


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