The Auckland Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel had their second meeting on Monday evening and have drafted the annual work plan that will help guide the Panel’s work for the next year. The draft work plan now needs to go to the Auckland Council Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in early December for approval and as such the advisory panel is unable to confirm the details of this. The Rainbow Panel is designed to provide a local government platform, from which to address issues of significance to Auckland’s LGBTI community. It joins five other Council advisory panels, which represent those with disabilities, Pacific and ethnic Aucklanders, youth and seniors. Co-chairs of the panel are New Zealand AIDS Foundation Community Engagement Programme Manager Jordon Harris and Julie Radford-Poupard from Women's Health Action. Other panel members are Aram Wu from RainbowYOUTH and EquAsian, counsellor Audrey Hutcheson, former local body politician and ex Body Positive boss Bruce Kilmister, community drug and alcohol worker Diana Rands, RainbowYOUTH General Manager Duncan Matthews, former Human Rights Commission educator Julie Watson, trans rights advocate Lexie Matheson, Body Positive head Mark Fisher, union delegate Merv Taueki-Ransom and Moira Clunie from the Mental Health Foundation. GayNZ.com Daily News will update the community on this plan when it becomes public.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 5th November 2015 - 9:48am