Founded in 1988, the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) is the peak non-government organisation representing people living with HIV/AIDS in Australia.

We are a national body providing advocacy, policy, education and outreach for people living with HIV/AIDS.

NAPWA works across the range of HIV health care and positive education initiatives to promote the highest quality standards of care for positive people, to develop and encourage appropriate clinical and social research into the causes and prevention of HIV and to advocate on national HIV/AIDS issues.

Our work is funded by:

• specific program funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and other government agencies;
• unrestricted educational grants from the HIV pharmaceutical industry;
• charitable donations and bequests.

Our philosophy

Our goal is to advance the human rights and dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Australian community, so that HIV+ people can live free from discrimination and enjoy their rights to appropriate treatment, employment, education, accommodation, care and support.

Our structure

Our volunteer Board of Directors, made up of HIV-positive people nominated by the membership of PLWHA groups and organisations around the country, sets the direction, priorities and policies of the organisation, and volunteer National Portfolio Convenors oversee our work in key areas affecting people with HIV/AIDS:

• Social Wellbeing & Policy
• Education and Research
• Health and Treatments
• International

NAPWA has a staffed secretariat office in Newtown in inner Sydney, which supports the Board and Convenors and carries out a range of policy, education, outreach and support work to further address the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS:

• HIV Living/International Unit
• HIV Health Project
• Positive Living magazine
• AIDS Treatment Project Australia (ATPA)

The current occupants of Board, National Portfolio Convenor and staff positions can be found here.

What we do

Some of the things we do include:

• representing the needs of HIV+ people on committees covering issues such as treatments, clinical trials, disability services and support, legal questions and educational strategies;
• lobbying government on a range of HIV-specific and broad health and social policy issues;
• working with service providers to ensure that the needs of HIV+ people are met;
• participating in community-based education strategies;
• developing policy and contributing to the policy development process across the breadth of the health sector;
• fostering and maintaining partnerships with government, the research community, HIV clinicians, the pharmaceutical industry and other consumer health and disability groups;
• assisting state-based and local PLWHA organisations to undertake advocacy, educational and policy work.