Down but not Out – Healthy Communities Survives Funding Cut
Date:
Mon, 20/08/2012
Spokesperson:
Healthy Communities
Today sees 22 staff from across Queensland being made redundant due the withdrawal of all Queensland Health funding from Healthy Communities.
Healthy Communities (previously known as the Queensland AIDS Council) has been funded by Queensland Health for 24 years to deliver HIV prevention and LGBT health frontline services to Queenslanders.
On 20th May 2012 the new Health Minister Mr Springborg announced in an article in the Sunday Mail that all funding was to be removed. There was no warning, no negotiation and no opportunity to meet with him.
The reasons given for the defunding were based on misinformation about HIV in Queensland and Australia, a misunderstanding of how population based public health works and a misrepresentation of our organisation.
4 staff positions from our Sunshine Coast office have been defunded, resulting in the closure of the Sunshine Coast office in Maroochydore. 3 staff positions in our Cairns office have been defunded and 15 positions in our Brisbane office.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff at Healthy Communities for the incredible work that they have done” said Mark Morein, President. “It is hard to be told that work about which you are passionate, that you have done well, and which has taken hard work, has little, if any value in the eyes of our current government.”
But despite the withdrawal of Queensland Health funding, Healthy Communities will survive.
“For the first four years of our organisation’s life the then National Party government refused to fund us, or even be in a room with us “homosexuals”. 28 years later and the LNP Health Minister Mr Springborg refuses to meet with us and has withdrawn all funding from us” said Paul R Martin, Executive Director.
“We have survived difficult times before and we will survive this, with the support of the LGBT community, fair minded Queenslanders and progressives within the LNP.”
Healthy Communities continues to deliver services to the LGBT community from other funding sources (including donations and volunteers), including:
‘2 Spirits’ program for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander LGBT people
InsideOUT - counselling & discussion groups for LGBT people
Men4Men – sexual health promotion for gay men
LGBT Seniors Community Visiting Service
LGBT awareness training for health & community services
Action Groups – lesbian health, ageing, multicultural, transgender, history
To donate to Healthy Communities visit www.healthycommunities.org.au/donation
