Wollongong AIDS Memorial finds its way home

Image: Josef Garrington from ACON with members of the community and the Kiama Illawarra Pride Choir at the site of the Wollongong AIDS Memorial.png

Last month, community members and service providers visited Wollongong Memorial Gardens to celebrate and acknowledge the unveiling of the Wollongong AIDS Memorial.

It was a particularly poignant moment as the Garden’s new space provided the new home for the memorial, which was first unveiled in the Wollongong CBD in the 1990s at its original location out the front of the old Wollongong ACON office.

“It’s quite an intriguing story but in 2020 ACON reached out to investigate options for finding a permanent home for the memorial in Wollongong. The memorial had been in Sydney for safe keeping, and it was felt it was time it was returned to the city,’’ Wollongong City Council Operations Manager - Memorial Gardens + Cemeteries Josh Saunders said.

ACON was established in 1985 as a community-led organisation with a purpose to support people who were impacted during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In Australia and closer to home, in Wollongong, people were dying from AIDS. Seeking to memorialise the loss of life and recognise some of the people who had close relationships with the organisation, the memorial was installed outside the old ACON office.

By the end of the 80's and into the 90's the numbers of people estimated to be living with HIV in Australia was increasing. Thankfully prevention methods and treatments which became more readily available changed the increasing trend of new HIV diagnoses. In 2013 the Wollongong ACON office closed, and the memorial was kept safe.

Image: The memorial consists of metal plaques on sandstone block. On each plaque are the names of people from Wollongong and the Illawarra who died from AIDS related illnesses.

“Following community consultation, ACON reached out to Council and requested that the memorial be installed at the Wollongong Memorial Gardens in Unanderra,” Mr Saunders said.

“This request made sense as the memorial is significant to the community here in Wollongong. We also were aware that there isn’t a formal memorial site for people who have died from AIDS in the Illawarra and its fitting to have one here in this space which gives people an opportunity for peace and reflection.

“Council supported ACON to install the sandstone block in the Wollongong Memorial Gardens. We selected a location in the gardens which is quiet and beautiful under the shade of a few trees. It’s a nice place to visit, which I think will be appreciated by family members and friends coming to pay their respects to loved ones who have since passed away.”

Image: The Wollongong AIDS Memorial has been located in a peaceful part of the Wollongong Memorial Gardens.

Over the years, ACON have continued to work towards ending HIV in the community by delivering campaigns and offering support to people living with HIV.

ACON Community Health Promotion Officer, Josef Garrington said:

“I am so thrilled to have the Wollongong AIDS Memorial back in the Illawarra. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the Wollongong Memorial Gardens team who were supportive from the very start.

“I would like to thank everyone involved and especially to the community members for their valuable contributions. We have had discussions with community members to add further names to the Memorial. It is in a safe location and will be maintained for years to come by the Gardens team.”

Wollongong Memorial Gardens provides memorial and burial services to the Illawarra. Visit the website for more information on the different cemeteries and upcoming events.

You can visit Wollongong Memorial Gardens at 176 Berkeley Road, Unanderra.