Burnett Foundation Aotearoa
New Zealand's national organisation for HIV prevention, testing, treatment support and sexual-health education.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa is a New Zealand charitable organisation focused on HIV prevention, HIV-related support, sexual health and the wellbeing of rainbow and takatāpui communities. It was formerly known as the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF), a name associated with the organisation from its establishment in the 1980s through its rebrand in June 2022. The organisation's work developed from community-led responses to the emergence of HIV and AIDS in New Zealand. A national AIDS Support Network was established in 1984 by Bruce Burnett, Bill Logan and Phil Parkinson, and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation was founded the following year. This origin gave the organisation a strong grassroots and peer-informed character, particularly in relation to gay and bisexual men and other communities disproportionately affected by HIV. The foundation's central public-health objective is to prevent new HIV transmissions while ensuring that people living with HIV can maintain good health and live free from discrimination. Its stated vision is an Aotearoa New Zealand with zero new HIV transmissions, where people living with HIV thrive and rainbow and takatāpui communities enjoy strong mental and sexual health. To pursue that vision, the organisation combines health promotion, community education, HIV and syphilis testing, counselling, support for people living with HIV, and advocacy or policy work. Its services have included rapid testing and sexual-health clinics, as well as information intended to encourage regular testing, safer sex, early diagnosis and timely treatment. Campaigning and social marketing have been important parts of the organisation's public identity. Its Get it On! programme promoted condom use and helped build what the foundation described as a condom culture in New Zealand. The programme used the Big Gay Out, one of the country's largest gay community events, as a major setting for outreach and public education. In 2014, the organisation replaced Get it On! with Love Your Condom, commonly abbreviated as LYC, a campaign addressing condom attitudes and behaviour among gay and bisexual men. In 2017, it introduced Ending HIV, a broader prevention campaign organised around playing safe, testing often, treating early and challenging HIV stigma. These messages reflect the changing HIV-prevention environment, including the importance of condoms, PrEP, diagnosis and effective treatment. Burnett Foundation Aotearoa operates nationally from an Auckland office and has regional centres in Christchurch and Wellington. Its service model also relies on trained professionals and contractors who provide rapid HIV and syphilis testing and counselling in other parts of New Zealand. The organisation has employed more than 30 staff and worked with more than 100 regular volunteers, according to reference material describing its operations. In addition to domestic services, it manages an international-development programme with Pacific partners concerned with the rights and health of Pacific men who have sex with men and transgender people. The 2022 rebrand recognised both the organisation's history and the expansion of its work beyond the terminology and programme structure of the AIDS era. The new name honours Bruce Burnett, an early community leader and one of the first people living with AIDS in New Zealand, while retaining a specifically Aotearoa New Zealand identity. Burnett Foundation Aotearoa remains grant- and donation-funded, with support also coming from New Zealand's Ministry of Health. It is not a commercial product brand: its principal offerings are public-health programmes, community services, education, advocacy and support.
History
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa emerged from New Zealand's community response to HIV and AIDS. In 1984, Bruce Burnett, Bill Logan and Phil Parkinson helped establish a national AIDS Support Network as the epidemic began to create an urgent need for information, prevention, care and community solidarity. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation was founded in 1985, developing from that network and from the organising efforts of gay communities. Its early identity was therefore closely connected to grassroots activism, peer support and practical HIV education. Over time, the foundation became New Zealand's national HIV-prevention organisation. Its activities expanded beyond public information to include support for people living with HIV, counselling, testing, sexual-health services, community education, research and policy advice. The organisation worked particularly with communities at heightened risk of HIV, while also addressing stigma and discrimination affecting people living with HIV, their partners, friends and whānau. A major strategic redesign took place through the NZAF HIV Prevention Plan 2009–2014. The plan placed renewed emphasis on population health and on building a stronger condom culture. Get it On! became a principal social-marketing programme, using public education and the Big Gay Out festival to encourage safer sex and make condom use more visible and acceptable. Later campaign work evolved with the 2014 adoption of Love Your Condom, which focused on behavioural and attitudinal change among gay and bisexual men. In 2017, the organisation replaced that campaign with Ending HIV, framing prevention around four connected actions: playing safe, testing often, treating early and ending HIV stigma. The organisation also participated in collaborative initiatives beyond its core campaign portfolio. In 2019, Burnett Foundation Aotearoa joined Body Positive and Positive Women Inc in launching Sperm Positive, an initiative enabling sperm donation by people living with HIV. Reference material identifies it as the first HIV-positive sperm bank of its kind and records that the initiative later became associated with the birth of a child in January 2021. A related picture book, The Baby Who Changed the World, helped communicate the initiative's social and reproductive-health significance. The foundation has also been involved in Auckland's Puawai Festival, a collaborative arts and community event intended to empower people living with HIV and generally held around World AIDS Day before it ceased following the COVID-19 period. The foundation maintains a national service footprint. Its national office is in Auckland, with regional centres in Christchurch and Wellington, and it has used trained contractors to deliver HIV and syphilis rapid testing and counselling in other New Zealand regions. It also operates an international-development programme with Pacific partners focused on the rights and health of Pacific men who have sex with men and transgender people. In June 2022, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation changed its name to Burnett Foundation Aotearoa. The rebrand honoured Bruce Burnett, who was among the founders of the movement and one of the first people living with AIDS in New Zealand. It also signalled that the organisation's remit had developed beyond the terminology of the early AIDS response. Under its current identity, the foundation continues to combine HIV prevention, testing, treatment support, sexual-health promotion, stigma reduction and community wellbeing. Its funding model is based on grants, donations and support from the New Zealand Ministry of Health.
- 2022
Organisation renamed Burnett Foundation Aotearoa
[1]The former New Zealand AIDS Foundation adopted its current name to honour Bruce Burnett and represent its evolving work.
- 2019
Sperm Positive launched
[1]The foundation collaborated with Body Positive and Positive Women Inc on a sperm bank initiative for HIV-positive donors.
- 2017
Ending HIV campaign launched
[1]The foundation introduced Ending HIV, a campaign focused on safer sex, regular testing, early treatment and reducing HIV stigma.
- 2014
Love Your Condom adopted
[1]Love Your Condom replaced Get it On! as the organisation's principal social-marketing message for gay and bisexual men.
- 2009
HIV Prevention Plan 2009–2014 introduced
[1]A redesigned prevention plan placed population-health programming and the development of a stronger condom culture at the centre of the organisation's strategy.
- 1985
New Zealand AIDS Foundation founded
[1]The organisation formally began as the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, growing out of community-led HIV and AIDS support activity.
- 1984
National AIDS Support Network established
[1]Bruce Burnett, Bill Logan and Phil Parkinson helped establish a national support network in response to the emerging HIV epidemic in New Zealand.
Products and positioning
A community-rooted national public-health organisation combining HIV prevention, testing, treatment support, sexual-health education and advocacy for rainbow and takatāpui communities.
Public-health programme
HIV prevention and education
Community-focused prevention work designed to reduce HIV transmission through safer-sex education, condom promotion, PrEP awareness, regular testing, early diagnosis and treatment information. The programme has historically used targeted communications for communities most affected by HIV and has also addressed misinformation and stigma.
Clinical and testing service
HIV and syphilis rapid testing
Rapid HIV and syphilis testing and counselling delivered through the organisation's centres and through trained professionals or contractors in other New Zealand regions. The service supports earlier diagnosis, referral and access to treatment or further care.
Peer and community support
Support for people living with HIV
Support services intended to help people living with HIV maximise their health, maintain safe sexual practices and manage the social effects of HIV. Stigma reduction and support for partners, friends and whānau form part of the wider purpose.
Social-marketing campaign · 2017
Ending HIV
A campaign built around four prevention messages: playing safe, testing often, treating early and ending HIV stigma. It succeeded Love Your Condom as the organisation's leading campaign framework and articulated an ambition to end new HIV transmission in New Zealand.
Reproductive-health initiative · 2019
Sperm Positive
A collaborative sperm-bank initiative launched with Body Positive and Positive Women Inc for donors living with HIV. The project sought to expand reproductive options while communicating the significance of effective HIV treatment and reducing HIV-related stigma.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019Sperm Positive
New Zealand · International media audience
A collaboration between Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, Body Positive and Positive Women Inc establishing a sperm bank for HIV-positive donors. It was presented as a pioneering reproductive-health and stigma-reduction initiative.
Outcome. The initiative attracted international attention and was associated with the birth of the first baby reported in the reference material to have resulted from an HIV-positive sperm bank in January 2021. A related picture book, The Baby Who Changed the World, was produced and the campaign received awards at the Cannes Festival of Creativity.
- 2017Ending HIV
New Zealand
A prevention campaign promoting safer sex, frequent testing, early treatment and the reduction of HIV stigma. Its stated goal was to end new HIV transmission in New Zealand by 2025.
- 2015Auckland Puawai Festival
Auckland, New Zealand
A six-day arts and community festival created to empower people living with HIV. It involved Body Positive, Positive Women Inc and artist Borni Te Rongopai Tukiwaho, with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa involved in later events.
Outcome. The festival was held annually around World AIDS Day for a period but did not continue after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2014Love Your Condom
New Zealand
A social-marketing programme aimed primarily at gay and bisexual men. It addressed condom attitudes, behaviour and the social conditions that can make prevention communications difficult to design and sustain.
Outcome. The campaign was discontinued in 2017 when the organisation introduced Ending HIV.
- 2009Get it On!
New Zealand
A social-marketing programme created under the 2009–2014 HIV Prevention Plan to promote condom use and strengthen condom culture, including outreach through the Big Gay Out festival.
Outcome. The programme was later replaced by Love Your Condom in 2014. Survey material associated with Big Gay Out indicated that the messaging was viewed as educational and empowering by participating community members.
Brand decisions
2022
Rebranded as Burnett Foundation AotearoaStrategyBackground
The former New Zealand AIDS Foundation sought a name that honoured its history while reflecting work extending across HIV prevention, support, sexual health and rainbow-community wellbeing.
Action taken
The organisation adopted the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa name in June 2022, commemorating Bruce Burnett and asserting an Aotearoa New Zealand identity.
Aftermath
The organisation continued operating as a national HIV and sexual-health charity under its new identity.
2017
Introduced the Ending HIV campaignStrategyBackground
The foundation broadened its prevention communications beyond condom promotion to reflect testing, PrEP, treatment and stigma reduction.
Action taken
It replaced Love Your Condom with a four-part framework built around playing safe, testing often, treating early and ending HIV stigma.
Aftermath
The campaign set a public ambition of ending new HIV transmission in New Zealand by 2025.
2014
Replaced Get it On! with Love Your CondomStrategyBackground
The organisation sought a campaign approach focused more directly on attitudes, behaviour and social change among gay and bisexual men.
Action taken
Love Your Condom became the principal social-marketing message.
Aftermath
The campaign remained in use until the launch of Ending HIV in 2017.
2009
Adopted a redesigned HIV prevention strategyStrategyBackground
The organisation reviewed its population-health programme in response to changing HIV-prevention needs.
Action taken
It introduced the NZAF HIV Prevention Plan 2009–2014, with a strong emphasis on building a condom culture and supporting the Get it On! programme.
Aftermath
The strategy established the campaign and community-outreach platform that preceded later Love Your Condom and Ending HIV messaging.
Sources2 sources
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