Don’t be shame, be game! Responding to HIV and AIDS in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Abstract

This article explores the under-examined history of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities responded to HIV and AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s. When HIV emerged as a public health threat in Australia, Indigenous healthcare workers and community leaders developed and delivered health promotion programs that were highly successful in preventing the spread of the virus among their communities. These programs drew on the political principles of self-determination and community control, fought for by the Black activism of the preceding decades. This article follows the story of one healthcare worker, Aunty Gracelyn Smallwood, who was instrumental in advocating for and implementing the grassroots Indigenous response to the virus. A proud Birrigubba, Kalkadoon and South Sea Islander woman and registered nurse, Aunty Gracelyn’s outspoken advocacy took her from her hometown of Townsville all the way to the highest offices of Australia’s AIDS response, where she helped shape and implement a world-leading approach to HIV and AIDS prevention.