About Us - Services

Vitally, this website is showcasing significant Australian initiatives in the area of research as well as practical contributions in the global HIV/AIDS field made by The Australian AIDS Fund, a registered charity. CIRCUMCISION is presently a central focus and an Australian team is soon to make an announcement on a fresh development.... hopefully before NOVEMBER 2007. The Australian Milk Biscuit Project.... is also an ongoing initiative.Our next news on this subject (as of August 2007) may well be coming in from Kenya. THE LEMONS AND AIDS PROJECT. This trial was recently concluded with a Poster Presentation at the International AIDS Conference (IAS) in Sydney in July 2007.

Internationally

• Our work in Malawi, Africa, has included the building of The Australian Primary School at Msema for some 474 children and The Australian Secondary School at Kambona for some 200 teenagers. They were opened in January and April 2007, respectively. Agriculture, industry, and youth recreation projects were also included.

• Earlier, we went to the assistance of another AIDS Orphans Care Centre elsewhere in MALAWI - in AFRICA. We funded a vital water project, completed in September, 2004, and we’re planning to do more. Read the full pictorial report.
  
  

• Stigma and Discrimination are also our key concerns. In September, 2004 we went to the assistance of two Good Samaritans in India – impoverished women in the remote countryside who went to the aid of an AIDS-infected woman about to give birth –and then became outcasts themselves. That story is on our India page.
  
  
• We have a special interest and concern with the HIV/AIDS plight of our impoverished neighbour PAPUA NEW GUINEA for which we have also reserved a special page. As at May, 2004, few in the field would dispute that between 50,000 and 70,000 Papua New Guineans are HIV infected. One expert predicts that PNG could have 350,000 orphans by 2014.
  
  
• We've helped in the establishment of that country's first HIV/AIDS hospice, just outside Port Moresby. Its first stage is called San Michel, after the accommodation facility we established and operated in Melbourne for many years. We're also encouraging further material support from Australia.
  
• We have also devoted website space to BOTSWANA.
  The University of Melbourne is making a valuable medical contribution there and it is training a number of Botswanan medical students.
  

At home in Australia

• We continue with the only such HIV/AIDS respite camps in Victoria. These are provided annually at no charge for those affected/infected by HIV/AIDS, mostly families and especially children. Camp Seaside April 2007 and Camp Seaside November 2006 also continued a wonderful tradition. Thanks to all involved, especially the volunteers. Well done!
  
  Click here for Camp Seaside 2005
  Click here for Camp Seaside 2004
  Click here for Camp Seaside 2003
  Click here for Camp Seaside 2002

• Schools AIDS Day in mid-July is an annual AIDS Awareness Initiative of ours which also marks the birthday of Eve van Grafhorst, the first Australian child to be HIV infected via a blood transfusion, and her battle against appalling discrimination and abuse. In Victoria, this is conducted in August by the Catholic Education Office...an AAFI initiative that now financially benefits the Melbourne archdiocesan Catholic AIDS Ministry agency.
  
  
  
• Our globally visited easy-to-read information resource website is regarded as an ideal reference not only for teachers, students and families but also a world-wide readership.
  
  
• We also continue to provide an unfunded telephone advisory service.
  

Over almost 20 years, The Australian AIDS Fund Inc has involved itself in the provision of pacesetter supportive accommodation facilities or men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS through its San Michel and Rosehaven services.

It established the nation's first such specific facility (Rosehaven) for women and children in Melbourne.

Government Funding at a Glance - Having first gone 10 years without it!

Despite the huge sums it poured and continues to pour into the Victorian AIDS Council, and large hand-outs to related services, the Victorian Government limited its financial support to The Australian AIDS Fund Inc through the Department of Human Services to just $7,333.34 per month (GST included). Click Here for the details.

The .pdf files below require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view Camp Seaside 167kb download Adobe Acrobat Reader