Our Vision:

•  We Make A Real and Lasting Difference To The People We Connect With.

Our Mission:

•  GLCS is a volunteer based organisation providing short term counselling, information and support services to facilitate healthy well adjusted lives within the lesbian, gay and related communities.

Our Values:

•  Integrity - We support people honestly and ethically with respect for their privacy.

•  Acceptance - We respect and understand other people's situations.

•  Commitment - We are committed to providing a high standard of counselling and support services.

•  Professional - Our work is underpinned by training, research, accepted practice and frequent revision. Also, we work towards enabling our clients to make informed choices in their lives.

•  Empathy - We endeavor to recognise the significance and acknowledge the emotions and feelings of others situations'.

Our History:

In Sydney in late 1970, a smallish group of homosexual women and men who were sick and tired of being discriminated against by the law, the churches, families, employers and "friends" formed The Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) - what is now the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service of New South Wales.

CAMP's aims were to get reforms to the Crimes Act. At that time, this legislation meant that a man trying to pick up another man could be sent to trial and sentenced to 14 years penal servitude. The Police Offences and Summary Offences Acts also meant that women showing affection in public could be charged under one or other of these Acts. Women's rights, in the broadest sense, especially abortion under proper medical control (then illegal under the Crimes Act) were the other issues of great concern.

CAMP decided that a safe meeting place, for discussion and partying, was most important. The commercial scene in Sydney was very small for gay men (and nearly non-existent for lesbians). The telephone service, Phone-A-Friend, was set up in April, 1973. A proper newsletter was instituted, so that opinions and political and social actions could be widely publicised and explored. Many pamphlets were published, dealing with these current matters, and in 1976 CAMP arranged the Tribunal on Homosexuals and Discrimination. This was the first such national hearing on the many faces of discrimination and its effects on lesbians and gay men.

In 1978, CAMP (NSW) changed its direction to being mostly an education and Counselling service. Public education programs were more and more in demand, especially after the law reform movement finally achieved the changes to the criminal law in 1983. The onset of HIV/AIDS gave the Gay Counselling Service another challenge. Its staff and volunteers were in the forefront of helping to set up education programs, support groups, and lobby groups.

These very important activities were the driving force for CAMP (NSW) as it was incorporated, and those activities continue to drive the GLCS. The GLCS cooperates with and applauds the continuing activism of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, the Anti-Violence Project, the newer social groups, the wide range of support groups that focus on bisexual women and men, all transgender questions, and all the range of sexual identity, political interests and social matters.

For a longer history of the GLCS -> A Longer history of the GLCS