Monday 25 May 2026
On Monday 25 May, people from across the ACT’s health, policy, research and community sectors gathered not just to celebrate 30 years of Hepatitis ACT, but to confront an important question together:
What will it take to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the ACT by 2030?
The room brought together people with different experiences and perspectives – clinicians, researchers, policymakers, peer workers, community organisations and people with lived experience. While each person arrived with their own expertise, the message throughout the day was clear:
Elimination is only possible if we move together.
The day opened with Hepatitis ACT Board President, Bill Bunton, welcoming attendees and setting the tone for the day ahead, followed by a Welcome to Country from Richard Allen.
Hepatitis ACT was formed in 1994 by a group of community members responding to their own lived experience of hepatitis C and was formally incorporated in 1996. As Hepatitis ACT CEO, Sarah Ahmed, reflected during the forum, the organisation began with a small group determined to support and advocate for their community. Today, the landscape looks very different.
“We have the cure for hep C, the infrastructure and the partnerships. Now we finish the job,” Sarah told attendees.
But throughout the day, people in the room were challenged to think differently about how that job gets done.
The answer is not simply asking already stretched services and individuals to do more. It is recognising that if we are serious about elimination, we must be willing to examine the systems around us – identifying where they create barriers, where they unintentionally exclude people, and where meaningful change is needed.
In the lead-up to the forum, and again following the event, Sarah Ahmed spoke on local media about why this work matters. Those conversations focused not only on the organisation’s 30-year milestone, but on the importance of liver health, early testing, prevention, harm reduction, and ensuring people can access care.
Because while viral hepatitis can affect anyone, too many people still delay seeking support due to fear, misinformation or judgement and organisations like ours exist to change that.
Listen: Hear Sarah discuss why liver health matters, how viral hepatitis affects our community, and why Hepatitis ACT’s work remains as important today as it was 30 years ago.
→ (Listen to Sarah Ahmed’s 2CC Radio Interview)
The conversation extended beyond the forum itself. Canberra Daily featured Hepatitis ACT’s 30-year anniversary, helping bring these important messages to a broader audience. The article explored the realities of viral hepatitis, the impact it continues to have on our community, the people most vulnerable to falling through the cracks, and the work still needed to challenge stigma and improve access to care.
Most importantly, it reinforced a message we continue to champion: viral hepatitis does not discriminate. Behind every statistic is an ordinary person, a family member, a colleague, a friend.
Read: Canberra Daily takes readers back to the start of Hepatitis ACT, providing an overview of the virus itself, the measures in place to help Canberrans, and how this ongoing work supports the efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis in the ACT.
→ (Read the Canberra Daily Article)
Attendees heard from ACT Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, who reaffirmed the ACT Government’s commitment to viral hepatitis elimination, while Hepatitis Australia CEO, Lucy Clynes, reflected on the national landscape and the opportunity for the ACT to continue leading this work.
Some of the most powerful moments came from lived experience voices – honest conversations that reminded the room that behind every strategy, roadmap and target is a real person navigating healthcare, stigma, diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Vicky Bagnara, who has lived experience of hepatitis C, and Tam Nguyen, who is living with hepatitis B, shared their personal stories with the room – grounding the day’s strategic discussions in the lived reality of what elimination actually means for the people it is meant to serve.
As the forum progressed, attendees moved into workshops and collaborative discussions focused on prevention, diagnosis and treatment access, guided throughout the day by facilitator Lisa Ryan. Ideas were mapped, systemic barriers were named, opportunities for change were identified and commitments were made.
Throughout the day, ideas were not only spoken about, they were captured visually in real time.
As presenters shared their perspectives and attendees explored the interconnected nature of this work, visual facilitator and motif designer Zoee Mylordis translated the conversation into a living illustration displayed alongside the forum. Stroke by stroke, themes emerged, connections formed and the collective thinking of the room took shape before our eyes.
For many attendees, it became a powerful reminder of the day’s central message: no single action, organisation or individual achieves elimination alone. Progress happens when we recognise how each part of the system influences another, and when we intentionally design solutions that work together.
Zoee’s artwork also extended beyond the forum itself. The flowing blue wave motifs were woven throughout the forum at every touchpoint, and event materials became a visual thread connecting the experience from beginning to end. The artwork reflected the idea that we are all waves of the same ocean, working together to achieve our goal.
By the end of the day, what remained was more than conversation.
The sector had built a collective systems map and a shared roadmap toward viral hepatitis elimination by 2030 – shaped by the very people responsible for carrying the work forward.
→ (View the drawn in real-time motifs from the day here)
Importantly, the conversation does not stop once an event ends. We are committed to continually improving the way we bring people together, which is why attendees were invited to provide post-event feedback to help strengthen future forums, partnerships and opportunities for collaboration. If we expect systems to evolve, we must also be willing to evolve alongside them.
The themes of the day are also captured in a professionally produced anniversary video that was unveiled at the forum, featuring Hepatitis ACT CEO Sarah Ahmed, Board President Bill Bunton, John Didlick, a previous CEO of Hepatitis ACT, lived experience Vicki Bagnara and Jane Koerner, a Hepatitis ACT member and public health researcher. The video follows the journey our organisation has been on — a reminder that community health work is never just about services, it is about people feeling safe enough to ask for help.
Watch: Our 30-year anniversary video reflects on the evolution of Hepatitis ACT, the advances in treatment that have transformed lives, and the people who have shaped our journey over the past three decades.
Thirty years ago, Hepatitis ACT began with a commitment to advocacy, education and community care.
Today, that commitment remains just as urgent.
Every outreach van parked at a community event, every conversation that encourages someone to get tested, every peer worker helping someone feel less alone, and every clinician, policymaker, researcher and advocate pushing the work forward, it all matters.
Until every Canberran can access testing, treatment and support without barriers or stigma, we will continue making noise.
30 years of advocacy.
10 years of hep C cure.
5 years to elimination.
Special thanks to our Strategic Event Partner, AbbVie Australia.
Event Gallery
Take a look through some of the moments captured throughout the day as we celebrated 30 years of Hepatitis ACT and looked ahead to the next chapter of our work together.