Unforgettable leader born with a natural curiosity
PHILLIP JAMES CARSWELL October 20, 1953-March 17, 2024
The death of Phillip James Carswell OAM was noted with profound sorrow by his family, friends, and the gay community to whom he dedicated his life’s work. Phil was an extraordinary person, a powerful advocate, and an unforgettable leader whose legacy will forever be intertwined with the future of Australia’s LGBTIQ+ communities.
Phil was born to Russ and Joan Carswell at Mercy Hospital Albury in NSW in October 1953. He was the beloved younger brother of Julian, Timmy, and Ann.
As a child, Phil enjoyed summers in regional NSW, riding his bike, swimming, and attending tap dancing classes. He was born with a natural curiosity, always interested in how things worked and taking time to learn from others.
From an early age, Phil’s mother instilled in him a strong sense of justice. She was a local activist who fought to establish the local kindergarten and for many other causes throughout Phil’s youth.
In 1972, Phil began his studies at the State College of Victoria, Rusden, where he trained to become a teacher. Here, Phil began cementing his reputation as a unionist, serving as a member of the national executive of the Australian Union of Students.
While still a student, Phil helped to launch the inaugural National Homosexual Conference at Melbourne University in 1975, which centred on the oppression of gay and lesbian Australians and explored pathways to liberation. His first teaching assignments were in the Western suburbs, including Tottenham Technical School, where he taught science. Although most children towered over him, Phil was never fazed. He had a remarkable knack for winning over his students, a skill he would sharpen throughout his lifetime.
As a teacher, Phil became a member of the state executive of the Victorian Technical Teachers’ Union, acting as the union’s editor from 1983 to 1984.
Jude Munro AO co-convened the National Homosexual Conference with Phil and recalled one of his projects as a union member.
Phillip Carswell: unforgettable leader.
“He energetically pursued human sexuality education and galvanised a small group to write and publish the seminal booklet, Young, Gay and Proud.”
His dedication to achieving equality for all drove him to continue advocating for the gay and lesbian liberation movement. Throughout his lifelong advocacy, Phil contributed to the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the exoneration of those criminalised for their sexuality, and the abolition of conversion therapy.
Phil experienced the fruits of his liberation efforts when homosexuality was decriminalised in 1980, describing the freedom of living authentically as “pure joy”. A year later, he would be forced to return to advocating for his community with a greater urgency than ever before.
The AIDS epidemic, as we now recognise it, began in 1981. By 1982, Phil was working with the ALSO Foundation, gathering information about gay related immune deficiency (GRID), which would come to be named acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Just a few years into his career as an educator, Phil felt compelled to leave teaching and joined the Department of Health in Victoria to do his part in the fight against AIDS.
In 1983, Phil convened the Victorian AIDS Action Committee, bringing together some of the community’s brightest minds with backgrounds in law, medicine, marketing, and activism to form a united front against AIDS. He would later serve as the organisation’s first president when it became the Victorian AIDS Council in 1984.
Phil believed people were the organisation’s heartbeat and attributed the Victorian AIDS Council’s ultimate success to the hardworking volunteers who fought tirelessly alongside him.
David Menadue OAM was one of the first people diagnosed with HIV in Australia and worked closely with Phil throughout the epidemic.
“What really impressed me about Phil was he was always ahead of the story – in the early ’80s he and friend Tom Carter took candles to Melbourne’s City Square to raise consciousness about an epidemic that hardly any of us knew much about. He never gave up that dedication to caring and advocating for those of us who discovered we were HIV-positive,” Menadue said.
Phil and Tom’s activism was the basis for Australia’s first AIDS Candlelight Vigil – a tradition that continues to this day.
Like in his teaching days, Phil’s indomitable personality allowed him to forge relationships and act as a much-needed bridge between the government and the gay community. In 1984, Phil became a liaison officer for the Health Commission of Victoria and a representative for the gay community on the National Advisory Committee on AIDS.
Fellow former VAC president and friend of more than 50 years, Dr Adam Carr, recalls Phil’s ability to bridge these gaps.
“His real leadership gift was that he was able to work very closely with people of all different political orientations or social backgrounds and get us working together as a team,” Carr said.
Phil participated in Australia’s first National AIDS Conference in 1985. The following year, he travelled to the US and Europe to collect information and produce a report on AIDS education resources. Clarity and education, rather than the vilification of the gay community, were the cornerstones of Phil’s response to the AIDS epidemic.
In 1987, Phil became one of the first trustees of the AIDS Trust of Australia and organised the creation of an AIDS memorial quilt to honour those who had died. The quilt is now recognised and protected by the Victorian Heritage Register.
After over a decade with the Victorian Department of Health, Phil moved to Brisbane in 1993, where he continued his work for the Queensland Department of Health for the next 20 years.
In June 2015, Phil was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his outstanding service to community health and response to the HIV and AIDS crisis.
Phil’s peers reflected on his legacy and long-lasting community impact.
“Phil was able to harness everybody’s energies and acknowledge the hurt in the community, the bereavement and sense of loss that we were all suffering at that time and turn it to positive effect. I don’t think anybody has been as good at that as he was,” Carr said.
“Phil was a warrior for those of us living with HIV – he saw the epidemic coming before the rest of us and helped set up the community organisations to deal with it. We owe him a great debt for his compassion and conviction,” David Menadue said.
Even after undergoing dialysis and an eventual kidney transplant, Phil’s drive for advocacy carried on. He championed for those with chronic kidney disease, campaigning for all patients to receive equitable care and be allowed active involvement in their own care.
A truly incredible activist, Phil achieved his dream of creating a community controlled organisation that would outlast him. The Victorian AIDS Council, now known as Thorne Harbour Health, offers invaluable services to the gay community, from the gay community. Phil’s legacy and vision will remain a guiding force for Thorne Harbour’s future, never to be forgotten.
Phil is survived by his partner of 40 years, Ian Cherry, whom he married on Stonewall Day in 2013 in New York City.
Phil’s memorial service will be held on Monday, April 22, from 3pm at The Edge in Federation Square. To RSVP, send an email to rsvp@thorneharbour.org with your name and any accessibility requirements.
Phillip Carswell’s friends and colleagues at Thorne Harbour Health contributed to this tribute.