Our communities have lost a dear friend and champion with the passing of Neville Fazulla.

Neville was a staunch advocate for Australia’s community response to HIV, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for people with HIV. He was a leader in the response for 25 years. He worked as a project officer, team leader, president, educator, coordinator, board member, student, mentor, peer and volunteer at many of Australia’s HIV organisations, including at AFAO and with many of our member organisations.

Neville’s connection with AFAO was longstanding. Most recently, he was a Director on AFAO’s Board from 2015 to 2017, and the Chair of our member organisation, the Anwernekenhe National HIV Alliance, for many years. Before Anwernekenhe became a separate organisation, Neville worked with AFAO’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander project. He was a founding member, and recently the Chair, of what is now the Positive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network, which is auspiced by the National Association of People with HIV Australia.

Neville will be remembered for the pivotal role he played in Anwernekenhe Conferences. This included as a founding member of the steering committee of Anwernekenhe 1, the First National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Gay Men and Transgender Sexual Health Conference in 1994, through to his powerful opening speech at Anwernekenhe 6, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Conference on HIV Education, Prevention and Wellbeing, in November 2015.

The magnitude of Neville’s contribution is impossible to capture and will be felt for years to come. The contributions he made to Australia’s HIV response went beyond his direct work to his sharing of his personal story as an openly HIV positive gay man. He shared many of these insights as a contributor to AFAO’s publication HIV Australia and through many other organisation’s campaigns, events and programs.

Neville Fazulla was our colleague and our friend. He was dearly loved and will be missed by all of us who knew and worked with him.

Our thoughts are with Neville’s family and his many friends.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS MEDIA RELEASE HERE: AFAO media release – Vale Neville Fazulla