With less than two months to go until the International AIDS conference in Melbourne, it's time to get organised. There are several deadlines to be aware of:

Thursday 29 May: African Diaspora Networking Xone - call for activity proposals

Friday 30 May: Domestic scholarships (for individuals in Australia)

Saturday 31 May: Women's Networking Zone - call for submissions

Wednesday 11 June: G'Day Zone - call for submissions

Monday 16 June: G'Day Zone - call for videos

G'Day - welcome to Australia

AFAO is hosting a networking zone in the Global Village at AIDS 2014. The zone will celebrate fundamental aspects of Australia’s partnership response, particularly the centrality of affected communities.

We are calling for proposals for activities in the zone (oral presentations, workshops, etc).

We'll also be screening a selection of HIV-related films, digital stories and other HIV/STI health promotion resources. Download the call for videos if you have something you'd like us to include.

The Melbourne Declaration

AIDS 2014 conference organisers are calling for an end to discrimination against people with HIV and the eradication of criminalising laws and practices with the release of the AIDS 2014 Melbourne Declaration.

All individuals and organisations involved in responses to HIV and AIDS are encouraged to sign and share the Melbourne Declaration.

Stay up to date

Keep on top of these and other conference-related activites on our AIDS2014 web page.

AFAO is concerned about measures in the 2014 federal budget that will make seeing a doctor more expensive. Our Health Promotion Team's Sean Slavin put together this slideshow to highlight some of the issues for people with HIV.

AFAO Executive Director Rob Lake has also commented that the introduction of co-payments may act as a barrier to HIV testing. Read more...

AFAO's Budget Briefing provides an overview of health-related measures in the 2014-15 Federal Budget, including HIV funding, changes to Medicare and the PBS, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, research, and changes to preventative health agencies.

Download the Budget Briefing

AFAO International Program is pleased to welcome two new members to our team in the Bangkok Office – James Malar and Chris Ward (pictured here with admin superstar Vaness Silpakhan). James and Chris started in early April, and have been working closely with the AFAO programs and partners. Read more ...

AFAO's series of briefing papers on HIV-related issues affecting African Australian communities is now complete, with the online publication of the final four briefings:

People with HIV

Prevention and Awareness

Stigma

Criminal prosecutions

The discussion paper from which these papers are derived will be available from early June. To express interest in receiving a copy of this paper, which is not for general distribution, please email the Policy Team.