Board
Positive Life SA is run by a board, comprising up to 11 HIV+ Board Members, including the office bearer positions of President and Vice-President. All members of the Board are elected by the members in attendance at the Annual General Meeting, for a term of 2 years each.
Annual Reports
Board Members
Tony - President
My name is Tony and I have been a dedicated and active member within the gay and HIV Positive community since 1996. I started at Rosemont in the PLC kitchen as the Dessert Chef (Cake Bitch), Retreat Coordinator & Co-Editor of Positively Talking (PT). I then nominated for the Board as an Ordinary Board Member and eventually took on the role as Secretary and full-time Editor of PT. I have held roles as Vice-President, Acting President, to my current role as President & PSB Liaison Officer. For the last 6 years I have been an active representative for South Australia at the National Association of People with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA).
I have been passionate and committed to my role as a Board Member and President of PLWHA (SA) and have been for many years. This has been evident with my receiving the GALA Award for leadership in 2006.
As an openly HIV positive person I believe I am approachable and a majority of the community know me and I hope they trust me.
I believe I have maintained the right mix of humour, logic and common sense to achieve the goals of the organisation.
My interests include gardening, cooking (with a total of 16 years as a Chef in various well known restaurants). I love watching TV and I am a staunch Sci-Fi addict.
Katherine - Vice-President (Kath is fine but please never Kathy)
I graduated with a TAFE Certificate in Child Care in 1980 with a dream of one day managing my own Early Childhood Development Centre. Diagnosed HIV positive and pregnant in 1987 while working as a trained Child Care Worker, I believed I was the only woman in Australia in this predicament and felt an incredible sense of isolation. Next followed what I refer to as my “denial decade” and, like many of us around that time, I was given a 2 year death sentence. My son was just 4 years old. I managed to complete a Bachelor of Social Science, Child Care Specialisation and give birth to a healthy daughter and my survival strategy was to never plan or think about the future as I believed I did not have one.
It was ten years on until I became aware of the existence of HIV services and organisations. I joined the PLWHA (SA) Board in 1996.
As a result of becoming a Positive Speaker in SA I attended a NAPWA Conference in Sydney. I can reflect on this time as a key turning point. In awe of the dynamic positive community I met I soon engaged at many levels both local and national.
As an openly positive women I am serious about increasing the visibility of positive women in Australia and ensuring their voices are heard and strengthened.
Current Positions held
- Positive Life SA Vice President
- HIV Women’s Project Peer Support Worker
- Positive Speaker
- World AIDS Reference Group NAPWA community representative
- Chair of women@napwa network
- Red Ribbon BGF Committee Member
Derick - Board Member
I am an Aboriginal man from the Kamilaroi Nation located in North West NSW and have a rural-Australian upbringing. I have been HIV+ since 1988 when I was infected at the age of 16 years old. Following the infection I maintained an intimate relationship the man who had infected me until he died from AIDS later that same year. Being HIV positive was the impetus for me to embark on a career in healthcare as a Registered Nurse and health industry trainer. Early in my nursing career (1993 and 94) I nursed patients in St Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney) who were dying or who were extremely sick with HIV/AIDS related complications. Following this, my career saw me define myself as a drug and alcohol nurse and an emergency department nurse. I have an Advanced Certificate in Nursing and a Bachelor of Nursing. I also have a number of other professional qualifications. I am currently undertaking further tertiary study at present.
I was married to a HIV negative woman for approximately 12 years and we have two HIV negative daughters that are biologically mine.
I did not commence HIV medications until 2003 (over 15 years after infection) when I finally succumbed to a number of opportunistic illness’s and almost died from AIDS. When I became unwell I then disclosed my HIV status to my employer. I was subsequently aggressively discriminated by my employer because of this. Coincidently I had a number of my nursing colleagues rally around to provide support for my young family and myself. I had not confided in any of my family about being HIV positive until I became sick with AIDS in 2003. The reason that I didn’t confide in them was the fear of rejection and misunderstanding. This fear was based on my perception of what their attitudes may have been about HIV and homosexuality. I was mindful of the negative attitudes permeating the rural psyche of the 1980s. I was also cognisant of the fear generated by the highly controversial “Grim Reaper” HIV/AIDS television commercial when it was aired in 1987. I was pleased to find that my family are extremely supportive, compassionate and understanding.
I am passionate about education and self determination with regards to decreasing stigma, discrimination, housing, income, education and health care.
Steven - Board Member
I have lived all over Australia and during that time I have been a Jackaroo, Cook for the Highways, Exclusive Functions Coordinator, trained fine dining waiting staff at Hayman Island as well as Mirage before Managing a video store, Been on Boards Chaired committees arranged community projects, volunteered in the community for over 40 years and lived with the virus for the past 27 of those I believe that we all can be much more that what we are right now and this has been my driving force to ask questions and get answers all of my life.
For the past 26 years I have been a fundraiser for the original Carrington Street to volunteering for 16 years at ACSA from switchboards to GMH outreach programs to chairing the RRBGF and board member on both the ACSA and PLWHASA boards and have had a few years off to get over health issues and now back on the PLSA board and the RRBGF Committee in my share time I am a Positive Speaker.
I was re elected to the board at the AGM 2010 prior to this I was on the board between 1997 to 1999 I have seen many changes and shared a great number of losses over tat 26 years of involvement
Over the past three years I have received a Cert3 for a Personal Care Worker in Aged Care, Cert4 and Diploma in Leisure and health, A Qualified Instructor for Easy Movement for Active Aging for Sports SA. I believe that these skill sets will be an advantage in dealing with the concerns of the ageing HIV population as we plan for the next 10 to 20 years.
I love gardening cooking great times with friends bush walking Camping Painting and living everyday to the fullest and with the constraints of HIV/AIDS the challenge is to see the light at the end of the tunnel there is always light.
Kristin - Board Member
Kristin may have HIV & Hep C but that cannot and does not dampen this girl’s spirits. She is passionate about her volunteering and hopes she brings humour to her position. Kristin is honest and caring and quite the sci-fi nerd. She hopes to be an artisan baker one day, but will always be involved on some level with the PLC.
I have been with the organisation for approximately 5.5 years. First, I was the nervous client. Then, through a lot of prompting joined the Board 3.5 years ago. Between being a client and a board member, I became a volunteer in the HIVE- this enabled me to tackle the loneliness I was feeling and gave me a sense of purpose.
I have been on the deep learning curve known as the PLWHA SA (now Positive Life SA) Board for 3.5 years. The first year was all about listening and the last 2.5 years have been about speaking up as a stakeholder in the community. I am grateful I was voted back on to the board for the last year during its transition. I am looking forward to empowering our community via our Health Promotion Model.
I have been involved with HIV/Hep C Education for 17 years. I have worked in Canberra, Sydney and Cairns. I returned to my childhood home of Adelaide 6.5 years ago and was initially part of children’s education that involved me wearing a giant dragon costume or dressing up as a frog. You will find me every pride march dressed as the HIVE Queen Bee followed by the HIVE workers wearing bee wings myself and a mate created. My achievements include an Award for Outstanding Year 12 Student to learning to live well with peripheral neuropathy and everything kooky in between.
Interests (I will keep it clean)
- Baking
- Bicycling
- Painting
- Drawing
- Movie Critiquing
- Sci-Fi
- Reading
- Swimming
- Laughing
- Laughing
- And More Laughing
Kym - Board Member
Kym lives happily together with his partner of 27 years and their dog named Sophie. Kym worked for Bank SA for 10 years travelling the State in his capacity as relief staff. He reckons there is no country town he does not know in SA! At the same time he attended University part time to study Accounting and Commerce. After moving to Sydney he worked for Canon Australia as the Assistant to the Chief Accountant and Finance Director for a further 10 years. While in NSW he finished his degree at Macquarie University and also gained a Diploma in Foreign Currency Management. He likes studying and numbers! After moving back to Adelaide in 1998 Kym retired from 'professional' work and began his long volunteering career.
Kym has been volunteering for PLSA since 2003, first as driver and also as receptionist.
Kym has been on the Board of the organisation since 2004, first in the Office Bearer role of Treasurer until 2010 when he became an Ordinary Board member.
Kym worked as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels in Adelaide in the late nineties / early 2000. He enjoys being able to spend his time helping others and has received many Volunteering Achievements Awards for his tireless efforts, even one from the Premier!
Kym loves gardening, he has three in fact: a barley garden, a back garden and a sky garden. If ever you need advice on how to crunch numbers or how to rescue your plants come and have a chat with Kym.
Dave - Board Member
I have always worked in service industries of one kind or another. Both in the “field” and also in management. This also includes operating my own business for a number of years.
In 1997 I was diagnosed positive to HIV and found myself on a Disability Support Pension (DSP). “Ouch” that hurt. After a number of years of using some of the great services provided by PLWHA (SA), I decided to volunteer and try to give back some of the help that I had been given. In 2006 I started as a transport driver one day a week. Shortly after that, I was invited to consider joining the Board. Here I am, in my 3rd term on the Board and still enjoying it all. I have found the Board to be a very interesting and rewarding experience and would recommend it to any other eligible member of Positive Life SA.
Mark - Board Member
My name is Mark Stephens and I am a single gay male living with HIV. I have 1 dependant in my care: A Labrador-Terrier X named Mojo.
I am discriminated against in the rental market on the basis of my being a dog-owner.
I am discriminated against in the job market on the basis of my criminal record, my HIV positive health status and my sexuality.
I am discriminated against in my family on the basis of my sexuality.
I am discriminated against in the gay community on the basis of my HIV positive health status.
I am discriminated against by potential partners on the basis of my HIV positive health status and my views on monogamy.
I am discriminated against by own race and culture on the basis of my sexuality and my HIV positive health status.
And I am discriminated against by society at large on the basis of my sexuality, my spiritual belief system and my HIV positive health status.
I am discriminated against on a daily basis and this is not the type of society I believe in.
I believe in happiness and good health for all people and this is why I joined the Board of Positive Life SA.
I believe all people deserve the right to have access to good food, clean water, appropriate medical care and shelter.
I believe HIV positive people deserve to have access to credible information regarding the medications they take and their side-effects so we can make informed decisions about our treatment and care.
I believe the relationship between a medical professional and their client is an equal partnership.
Positive Life SA is a warm and ethical organisation and this is why I stay.
