Decision details

Moved by Councillor Worling, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) -

It is resolved that:

(A)       Council note:

(i)         the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation (BGF) is Australia's longest running HIV charity. It was founded in July 1984 to provide community-based care and practical, emotional and financial support to people living with HIV-AIDS in New South Wales and South Australia;

(ii)        BGF is the only not-for-profit in Australia providing frontline services and support to people living with HIV no matter their age, race, ethnicity or gender;

(iii)       almost 30,000 people are living with HIV in Australia and 50 per cent of people living with HIV live below the poverty line;

(iv)       the foundation’s namesake, Bobby Goldsmith, was born in Hurstville, Sydney, on 8 March 1946. Known as Robert to his family, and ‘Bob’ or ‘Bobby’ to his colleagues and friends, Goldsmith was a charming and open person with an excellent sense of humour;

(v)        Goldsmith was a keen recreational swimmer who, at the inaugural Gay Games in San Francisco in 1982, won 17 of the Australian team’s 21 medals: four Gold, 11 Silver and two Bronze;

(vi)       Goldsmith contracted the human immunodeficiency virus knows as AIDS in the early 80s and by 1983, he was terminally ill;

(vii)      Goldsmith died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome on 18 June 1984. He died with dignity, at his home in Surry Hills, where he wanted to be. His was the first publicly acknowledged HIV-AIDS death in New South Wales and he was the third Australian to die from AIDS-related illness;

(viii)    during the last months of his life, Bobby was cared for by a group of close friends who provided practical, emotional and financial support;

(ix)       on the night of his death, 18 June 1984, his friends met at the Midnight Shift and decided to place the money they had raised for his care into a fund that would help the many people living with HIV/AIDS who would need care and support;

(x)        this was the beginning of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, which quickly became known as BGF;

(xi)       early funds were directed to supporting an AIDS Home Support Service, which was subsequently formalised as Community Support Network, an organisation that provided practical support and home care;

(xii)      BGF was a founding member of the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON), established in 1985 to coordinate the community’s response to HIV/AIDS;

(xiii)    also in 1985, BGF assisted in funding ACON’s 'Rubba Me', Australia’s first community originated safe-sex campaign after the NSW Government withdrew its support;

(xiv)    BGF was subsequently limited to raising and directing funds to providing care and support after it gained charitable status;

(xv)     BGF is currently an affiliate member of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the National Association of People With HIV Australia, and the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine;

(xvi)    BGF has received over $26,000 in cash support and nearly $10,000 value in kind support from the City since 2014. This includes a Quick Response Grant for $4,180 for a series of workshops in Surry Hills using the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of people living with HIV and venue support for fundraisers; 

(xvii)   BGF is committed to supporting the NSW Health strategy of elimination of the transmission of HIV with a focus on prevention, testing, treatment and reducing stigma in identified priority populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM), Indigenous population, sex workers and their clients, people who inject drugs and sexual partners of priority populations; and

(xviii)  in 2023, BGF was able to support 650 clients across more than 11,000 interactions. This equates to more than 15,000 hours of community support delivered in people's homes and in their communities by dedicated community support workers; and

(B)       the Lord Mayor be requested to write to the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation to congratulate them for 40 years of support to people living with HIV and acknowledge that BGF is the longest running organisation in Australia exclusively committed to supporting people living with HIV and AIDS.

Carried unanimously.

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