[The article below first appeared in LinkedIn Pulse on 1st December 2016]

I grew up in the 1980s where AIDS, HIV and the spectre of the Grim Reaper bowling for AIDS victims, first terrified Australian television audiences. Looking back, I wonder if the Reaper has any regrets?

Breathe

If you're newly diagnosed like many of our clients you might be scouring the internet to learn everything you can about your status.

A big step closer to making the impossible, possible

People living with HIV in Australia can now get full life insurance.

Stigma and discrimination undermine more than just HIV prevention and treatments

Australia's known the world over as the lucky country and our unrestricted access to financial services such as life insurance is something that most Australians simply take for granted.

The Story of Patricia Kennedy OAM

How one Australian Scottish born Grandmother remembers the 1980's and the arrival of AIDS and HIV to Australia

Half of all needlestick and sharps injuries go unreported

In Australia at least 18,000 healthcare professionals report suffering a needle-stick injury (often referred to as NSI or contaminated sharps injury) every year.

Important life insurance eligibility update for positive people

Good news. You no longer need to have an undetectable viral load to be eligible for life insurance.

Proud to be part of the Honour Awards

A heartfelt thank you to all our clients, friends and supporters

If you think it's just about life insurance, you've missed the point. It's about taking HIV out of your identity

One of our favorite quotes is from the late Dag Hammarskjöld a Swedish diplomat, the second United Nations Secretary-General, and one of just three people to be posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses'. - Dag Hammarskjöld

Our backstory

We share this story in the service of others.

Behind every real business, there's a real person with a real story. We'd like to share our story with you.

It really began over 20 years agoDrew Browne Founder unUsual Risks Insured Australia

In 1991 I sat in the waiting room of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney after discovering that I couldn’t work 60 hours a week and keep my health as well. I’d just received the news that I needed to be admitted for urgent surgery the next day, to have a growth removed from my throat.

As I sat there, surrounded by vintage editions of the National Geographic Magazine, and people in varying states of ill health and unhappiness...

...a simple black and white postcard caught my eye of a photo of Mother Teresa who became known for her work with the extreme poor in the slums of India’s Calcutta. The caption read, ‘You don’t have to be a saint to do something good’

It was a brochure asking for people who’d be prepared to volunteer their time, learn therapeutic massage and then provide hands-on massage services to people with HIV in palliative care situations at a hospital clinic.

I folded a copy of the postcard into my back pocket to read another time. Weeks later, after my surgery and a great deal of personal loss, I remembered that simple black and white postcard from the waiting room, and so began my journey of doing something good.

After months of practical massage training, health and discrimination awareness education, I began regular weekly volunteering at a hospital with a newly opened HIV/AIDS ward. A year later, after so many deaths, many lessons and a new-found level of respect for the resilience of people labouring under stigma suffering terrible discrimination, I was asked to spend some time at a newly-opened Day Centre for positive people in the western suburbs of Sydney.

Our friend Mrs Patricia Kennedy, OAM

It was at this centre that I met and began my friendship with an HIV Disability Advocate, Mrs. Patricia Kennedy, and her wonderful team of volunteers. Patricia was later to be officially recognised and awarded the Australian government's OAM honour in 2003 for her services to people living with disabilities and HIV. In 2013, she inspired us to create unUsual Risks Insured Australia.

The early days of HIV and AIDS

In the 1990s, the world was just waking up to the reality of HIV and AIDS. It was the social leprosy of its time. Because of people’s discrimination, intolerance and unfair judgments, anonymity, and confidentiality were paramount — so no one knew what I did, who I supported and who I was honoured to care for.

Things began to change

Five turbulent years passed. I've watched amazing breakthroughs in medical treatments. People diagnosed with HIV, when treated early, began to live long and fulfilling lives again. The HIV hospice moved a number of times and later found a more permanent location in Sydney's western suburbs.

Since then, ACON has been well established. The broader community understanding has begun to mature slowly as people realise that the most important issue is the person, not the diagnosis.

For over 20 years now I have worked in the financial services industry in the specialist area of life insurance. I’ve continued to see some businesses move (at glacial speed) towards greater tolerance and understanding, and then to acceptance and celebration of diversity in our greater community.

But there’s still active and passive discrimination in business towards people living with HIV

I've witnessed firsthand the passive discrimination in business towards people who accept and celebrate diversity in others.

• FM Radio stations who no longer wished to be associated with a brand that celebrates diversity
• Companies who made decisions based upon fear and discrimination over facts
• The stigma and fear-based discrimination that so many LGBTI ( Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) people have to deal with daily when discussing their financial position, personal insurance plans and their desire to protect and provide for their families.

Tomorrow, history will judge us all on our businesses and our demonstrated commitment towards acceptance, respect and inclusion of all people. But today the consumer will judge us, and rightly so.

We believe this is a human rights issue

My interest in human rights started at a young age as I read confronting books about Sociology and Ethics, later the work of Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia and author Jack Donnelly’s Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice.  

In 2009 I became a brand ambassador for a microfinance charity working with the extremely poor in the developing work, without regard to gender, sexuality, race, religion or status.

• Unusual Risks Insured Australia opened it's specialty doors for business 1st December 2013
• In September 2014 we were proud finalists in the Honour Awards and won the Outstanding Financial Product Award for KPI Sydney
• In May 2016 our parent company Sapience Financial & Investment Certified as a B Corporation, the international standard for using business as a force for good

We believe this is a Global Goals issue

The 17 UN Global Goals designed to provide a roadmap for governments and businesses to focus their efforts to make the work a better place by 2030. Global Goal #10 Reduce Inequalities, focuses on reducing the discrimination and inequality that often leads to financial and social discrimination.

• Our doors are open for business and we welcome all like-minded people who need high-quality personal insurance and financial and investment services. We don't discriminate.

Why not make us part of your story today and upgrade to a Specialised Financial Adviser in your corner looking out for your best interests.

You can browse through our Case Studies here.