NAPWA

The death of NAPWA President and long-time HIV activist Phillip Medcalf on 22 February was received with a great sense of loss and reflection throughout the Australian HIV/AIDS community, as well as by many others who had been personally touched by his life.

Phillip had lived with HIV and Hepatitis B for many years, and in the last months of his life he had been challenged by a decline in health that was indicative of the toll that both disease and finite treatment options can bring to a person.

But that was at the end of his life, and with his death, at the age of 42, many observed that Phillip was a man who had experienced and achieved so much in his life, and who had been genuinely loved and regarded by such a wide and diverse number of people.

A testament to his spirit and commitment to the community response to HIV/AIDS, Phillip had been a volunteer amongst the various positions and groups in the sector over all the years since he had retired from full-time work as the General Manager at Sydney Sexual Health Centre in 1996.

After joining PLWH/A (NSW) in May 1996, Phillip took on the role of Treasurer of the Management Committee in June, and then Convenor from September 1996, until resigning as President (as the position had been renamed) in May 2000. A significant tenure of four annual terms, during which time he was responsible for many demanding representative roles on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS in NSW.

These state-based roles included the formal, such as PLWH/A (NSW) representative on the boards of the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON), the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation (BGF), and committee membership of the NSW HIV Agencies Forum and the NSW Rural HIV Conferences, as well as all the informal and ad hoc requirements that the position of President brings.

Activities and visibility throughout the community networks, and liaison with a broad base of both organisations and groups, and all the hundreds of other people living with HIV/AIDS throughout these networks was demanding, and required a huge commitment of time and energy, all of which he gave freely and passionately.

In May 1999, Phillip joined the National Association of People living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) Executive Committee, becoming Vice President after several years as a PLWH/A (NSW) representative to the national body. In a typical understatement, Phillip wrote in his nomination description that he wanted to move into national representation as a way to “advance [his] knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues.”

During the following years he was part of the organisation’s transition into developing a four-year strategic plan that would showcase an invigorated national response for the PLWHA movement in Australia, and he gave special focus and time to facilitating a governance restructure that saw NAPWA members elect a Board of Directors in April 2001. It was at this election that Phillip became President of NAPWA, a position he held until his death.

Over this time he also represented positive people in a variety of national positions, including the Commonwealth World AIDS Day Committee, as the NAPWA nominee on the Board of Governors of the AIDS Trust of Australia, and the Board of Directors of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAOAustralian Federation of AIDS Organisations. AFAO is the peak non-government organisation representing Australia's community-based response to HIV/AIDS. AFAO's work includes education, policy, advocacy and international projects. ). He also worked in a part-time capacity at the Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHMAustralasian Society for HIV Medicine. The peak Australasian organisation representing the medical and health sector in HIV/AIDS and related areas. ) during the period from August 2000 to March 2002.

Just one example of the unique places and positions that Phillip held in so many people’s lives is that in a year where he was an Executive Assistant for the Executive Officer of ASHM, he was also the NAPWA President invited to be part of the Opening Session of the 2001 ASHM National Conference.

Again, these were the formal titles, but as is the case so often, they do not really show the personality and humanity of the person. One recent achievement of which Phillip was very proud was bringing together energy and skills from NAPWA members and volunteers to see the redevelopment and relaunch of the NAPWA website.

This achievement was an example of the way in which Phillip worked so well. He often had the bright and enthusiastic ideas or whims, saw to it that others were caught up in that energy with him, and then, like a dog with a bone, just would not be dissuaded from ensuring that the pieces fell into place.

The NAPWA website was a particular passion for Phillip because he loved people, he wanted the networks and communications of the body of HIV positive people across the country to work in the best way possible, and devoted energy and time to that project because it symbolised the importance of communication and cooperation, and provided a meaningful way for positive people to reach out to each other, and one in which they could share ownership.

The October 1996 issue of the PLWH/A (NSW) publication Talkabout included an inside cover feature to welcome the then new Convenor of PLWH/A (NSW). As someone who first met Phillip in that time, two very personal revelations from that story have always stood out.

Firstly, where Phillip reveals that his HIV diagnosis had come 12 years earlier, so therefore he had already experienced many losses and confrontations with issues of HIV/AIDS, and secondly, that he was known to his friends as being able to do a really good funeral service — ?Fuschia’s Friendly Funeral Service”.

These two points marked a measure of his capacity to survive, but also to look for the very best in people, and the most positive ways of dealing with the hard blows that could rain down in life.

On 27 February 2003, Phillip’s funeral service brought hundreds of people together to mark his passing, including many from the NAPWA membership around the country. Phillip is survived by his family — identified during the service by one of his sisters as not just the blood kin, but also all that he regarded in the extended form of family, and his loving partner Paul.

Phillip leaves behind a legacy that is deeply valued and appreciated by people all around Australia, many of whom poured their messages of condolences and support not just into our offices, but also to his and Paul’s home. As one of those messages said, “It seemed to me that he was one of the good ones”.