Minute by the Lord Mayor
To Council:
HIV and AIDS organisations, experts and
advocates in Australia and overseas are mourning the passing of Bill Whitaker AM
on 12 September 2024. For almost 40 years Bill had devoted his life to
preventing the spread of HIV and ensuring that support and treatment was
readily available to people living with HIV and AIDS.
From 1968 to 1976, Bill served as a clerk of
the NSW Parliament. One of his mentors was the long serving Labor Premier
Neville Wran, who he later said taught him much of what he knew about
procedures, governance, administration and politics.
His career took a radical new direction when
he resigned his parliamentary post to become a Qantas flight steward. Over the
next few years, he travelled the world, immersed himself in the emerging gay
party scene and became a Mardi Gras volunteer.
Given Bill’s previous career, he had the
skills Mardi Gras needed and was elected the Committee’s Chair in 1985,
eventually becoming the Chief Executive Officer.
Under his leadership, Mardi Gras established
robust organisational structures, clear governance processes, rigorous
financial management and secured incorporated association status. This work
established firm foundations for Mardi Gras to become the world’s leading gay
(and later gay and lesbian) nighttime parade.
Bill resigned as Mardi Gras Chair in 1986 and
later that year became the first CEO for the then AIDS Council of NSW (now
ACON). As he had done with Mardi Gras, Bill transformed the organisation. When
he resigned as CEO in 1990, ACON had grown from three employees to a staff of
over 70 servicing its head office and three regional branches. Over those 4
years ACON established treatment information and legal projects which had an
impact beyond NSW, built a strong advocacy and policy base and was involved in
State and Federal Government decision making. The Sex Workers Outreach Project
and People living with HIV and AIDs (now Positive Life) were established and
received government funding.
As ACON CEO, he was a leading advocate and
pioneer of harm minimisation strategies, now internationally recognised as part
of Australia’s world leading public health approach to HIV prevention.
Bill continued his HIV and AIDS work after
leaving ACON. He served as President of the Australian Federation of AIDS
Organisations (now Health Equity Matters) from 1990 to 1992, and again from
2000 to 2003. He was also a major contributor to government taskforces and HIV
policy bodies. During the 1990s, he played a crucial role in advocating for
increased access to antiretroviral treatments, with this work being
instrumental in shaping Australia’s response to the evolving HIV treatment
landscape.
In 2012, he led groundbreaking initiatives
around CD4 count testing, which significantly improved the monitoring and
health outcomes of people living with HIV. More recently he was instrumental in
efforts to increase access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which has helped
revolutionise HIV prevention strategies in Australia and beyond. From 2013
until his recent death, he served as Special Representative of the National
Association of People with HIV (Australia).
Bill’s work extended beyond Australia. In
2001, 2006 and 2011 he participated in the United Nations Special Sessions on
HIV, helping to design a global response. As a Commissioner with the UNAIDS
High Level Commission on HIV Prevention, he and other Commissioners on AIDS in
Asia presented then UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, with a vision for an
effective regional response.
In 1992, Bill’s HIV work was recognised when
he became a Member of the Order of Australia.
Apart from his work in establishing strong
foundations for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Australia’s HIV/AIDS
response, Bill played a pivotal role in preserving the Star Observer, Sydney’s
oldest surviving LGBTIQA+ media outlet.
In 1987, when its then owner, the Melbourne
based Gay Publications Cooperative, announced its intention to cease the
newspaper’s publication, Bill gathered a group of community leaders with the
aim of organising a community purchase. They established Sydney Gay Community
Publishing, with Bill as its inaugural Chair. The purchase was successful and
the newspaper was published under its new community ownership from early 1988.
It is still published, albeit now in private ownership.
While much of Bill’s life was focused on
Australia’s and the world’s HIV/AIDS, his key role in ensuring the survival and
growth of two crucial LGBTIQA+ institutions, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
and the Sydney Star Observer, must also be recognised. Australia’s LGBTIQA+
communities are much stronger because of Bill’s life work.
COUNCILLOR CLOVER MOORE AO
Lord Mayor
Moved by the Chair
(the Lord Mayor), seconded by Concillor Worling –
It is resolved that all persons attending
this meeting of Council observe one minute’s silence to commemorate the life of
Bill Whittaker AM and his significant contribution to the Australian and
international response to HIV and AIDS and to Australia’s LGBTIQA+ Community.
Carried unaimously.
S051491
Note – All
Councillors, staff and members of the public present stood in silence for one
minute as a mark of respect to Bill Whittaker AM.