Giving voice to our community and strengthening inclusion
- We ensure that ACON maintains meaningful involvement of people living with HIV, and ensures their strengths and concerns are shared with decision makers and the broader community.
- We amplify the voices of those we serve to ensure that decision makers are working with us to create opportunities for our communities to live their healthiest lives.
- We advocate for the meaningful inclusion, support and participation of our communities and the reduction of discrimination and stigma.
- We build strong partnerships and exemplify and share best practice models for inclusion and participation.
- We participate in and support research and strive for a strong evidence base to inform decisions made about our communities’ health.
Summary Highlights
Policy, Strategy and Research
We’re here to work with legislators, policymakers, researchers and service providers to help them understand and address the health needs of sexuality and gender diverse people, and people living with HIV.
Our policy work remains committed to ending HIV transmissions and HIV stigma, as well as improving health outcomes for all LGBTQ+ people in NSW.
This year, we produced several major policy papers alongside our ongoing advocacy work including HIV in Greater Western Sydney; Opt-out testing position paper; HIV Decriminalisation in NSW; and Achieving the goals of the Fast-Track Cities Initiative.
We also provided 32 submissions to government inquiries, reviews of legislation, policy, and strategies, and advocacy letters to key decision makers.
We provided submissions and evidence to inquiries including the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding, the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into mental health care; the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of Justice Responses to Sexual Violence; and the Australian Human Rights Commission review of Current and emerging threats to trans and gender diverse human rights in Australia.
We provided feedback and advice to a number of legislative reviews and government policies, including the National HIV Strategy, the NSW Law Reform Commission’s Reviews of the Anti-Discrimination Act and of the Crimes Act, the NSW Government’s Conversion Practices Ban Act, the NSW Ombudsman’s Review of the Mandatory Disease Testing Act, applications to the Medical Services Advisory Committee’s regarding anal cancer screening and gender affirming surgery, and the Review of the Mental Health Commission.
In August 2023, Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich introduced the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTQIA+) Bill to the NSW Parliament. The Bill aims to amend laws to protect LGBTQIA+ communities from discrimination. ACON submitted to the Inquiry into the Bill and provided supporting evidence in April. Following amendments, the Bill was passed by NSW Parliament in October 2024, an important step for equality in NSW.
As part of the Equality Bill, Mr Greenwich also introduced his Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill. In March, the NSW Government introduced its own Conversion Practices Ban Bill, which ACON provided feedback on. The Bill passed parliament on Friday 22 March with no amendments, an important step forward in demonstrating that our communities deserve to be loved and supported as they are.
In December 2023, the Australian Government released the National HIV Taskforce Report. The report recommends that all governments use current HIV science to inform the development and review of new and existing laws and policies to reduce stigma negatively impacting people living with HIV.
ACON and our partners HIV/AIDS Legal Centre, Positive Life NSW, and Bobby Goldsmith Foundation leveraged these recommendations to continue our advocacy to remove laws that criminalise HIV and perpetuate stigma.
We collaborated and worked with SafeWork NSW to update SafeWork Blood Borne Virus Code of Practice; the NSW Health PRISM Working Groups; and Sydney University to develop a student program on HIV prevention and other health responses for our communities.
In January, we partnered with Positive Life NSW, ASHM, NAPWHA, Queensland Positive People, Living Positive Victoria and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney to provide a submission to the National Health and Medical Research Council’s research project on anal cancer.
ACON is committed to evidence-based policy and programs to improve health outcomes and HIV responses for our communities. Research is critical to building the evidence base that underpins our work, helping us to understand our communities’ needs and design effective programmatic and policy responses.
ACON continues to support research outcomes in several ways. Our Research Ethics Review Committee, which is committed to ensuring our communities are meaningfully and ethically included in research, reviewed 43 research projects from 23 research institutions.
ACON staff also provided input into many research projects this year across the span of HIV and sexual health, women’s health, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, cancer screening and prevention, and experiences of LGBTQ+ people from culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities.
We also presented the findings of research projects to ACON staff and key stakeholders at eight research forums and seminars ACON hosted on HIV-related topics.
Delivered in partnership with the UNSW’s Centre for Social Research in Health, the Kirby Institute, Positive Life NSW and the NSW Ministry of Health, the Sydney GBQ+ Community Periodic Survey (SGCPS) is an annual cross-sectional survey of GBMSM and non-binary people who have sex with men recruited throughout NSW.
ACON worked with our partners to train 30 peer recruiters, who collected surveys during the Mardi Gras festivities. Despite the cancellation of Fair Day, our biggest recruiting event, the recruiters managed to collect 2761 surveys.
We also continued to support our community surveys via our regular community of practice, bringing together ACON teams and researchers from GCPS, SWASH, BiSHH, and the Gay Asian Men’s Survey.
Among our key focus areas in the coming year include collaborating with the Trans Health Equity team to develop a new Trans and Gender Diverse Blueprint. We are also working on the development of our new Strategic Plan for 2025-2030.
You can find out more about our work in policy, strategy and research at acon.org.au/what-we-are-here-for/policy-research/
Safety, Inclusion and Justice
We’re here to help LGBTQ+ people who have experienced violence and discrimination, and to help improve safety and security of our community by providing information and a range of programs and services.
ACON continued our work in seeking truth and justice into historical hate crimes and providing support to those impacted by hate and violence.
After 18 months, the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes released its final report in December 2023. The report called for new inquests into a number of unsolved cases, as well as a clear set of actions to improve shortcomings in the NSW Police Force’s investigative and record-keeping practices.
In September this year, the NSW Government announced it would accept all of the inquiry’s public recommendation in full. The government has also issued an apology to the victims, survivors, loved ones and broader LGBTQ+ communities.
ACON commends the NSW Government for its response to the Special Commission of Inquiry, and we thank the Commission and all the stakeholders who, with much courage and fortitude, have worked together to shine a light into the darkness of this era for many people in our communities.
ACON acknowledges the many people and organisations who have worked tirelessly over many years in bringing attention to past fatal violence and facilitating justice to those impacted by these crimes.
We look forward to working with the NSW Government and other agencies to fully implement the reforms necessary to protect our communities, as we continue to advocate for justice and work towards improved response to hate crimes.
During 2024’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, we held a commemorative service at sunrise at the Rise Memorial at Marks Park in Tamarama to remember those in our communities we have lost to violence, and to also reflect on the immense progress we’ve made towards a stronger society, and to commit to ending bigotry and prejudice in all its forms. The event was well-attended and is now likely to be an annual addition to the Mardi Gras festival calendar. Speakers included Special Commissioner Justice John Sackar, ACON President Justin Koonin, Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos.
We acknowledge Waverley Council, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Ivan Power from Bronte Surf Club for their support towards this event.
This year ACON, in partnership with the City of Sydney, delivered a series of safety workshops for local government staff and LGBTQ+ community members across NSW. The workshops provided practical advice on dealing with disruption and intimidation targeted at rainbow communities at events, and fostered collaboration among key stakeholders. It was part of a range of actions designed to address the increasing violence against rainbow communities.
ACON also developed guides to support safe event planning for LGBTQ+ community members and local council workers, as well as other safety material.
Earlier in the year ACON attended the City of Sydney’s LGBTIQA+ Safety Summit, which brought together 120 people from sexuality and gender diverse communities, academic experts, allied organisations and all three levels of government to discuss ways on ensuring community safety.
ACON acknowledges the City of Sydney for their leadership in convening the summit, as well as the efforts of many people and organisations in ensuring the safety of rainbow communities.
We continued to provide support to many businesses, organisations, and services across Australia in creating spaces that are more welcoming and inclusive of LGBTQ+ people through our Welcome Here Project. Over the past year, the project saw continued growth with 705 businesses accounting for 2,254 sites joining the project, bringing us to a total of 3,443 member businesses and 13,037 sites. We thank the many businesses and services across Australia for proudly displaying Welcome Here stickers and committing to the first step of providing a welcoming space for people from LGBTQ+ communities.
Our Diversity Days Grants allow us to directly resource and empower our communities to host events on LGBTQ+ days of significance. This year, $10,000 in grants was distributed to various community groups and organisations throughout NSW, with a particular focus on GWS, regional and rural areas, as well as events for LGBTQ+ First Nations and CALD communities.
We will work to fostering more inclusive environments by building capacity and developing community partnerships to promote LGBTQ+ diversity. In the coming year, we will collaborate with C3West and the Museum of Contemporary Art for an innovative community-led art project that promotes visibility and inclusion of LGBTQ+ communities. We will also deliver a series of safety workshops with the Inner City Legal Centre to provide critical legal resources to LGBTQ+ community members.
You can find out more about our work in safety and inclusion at acon.org.au/what-we-are-here-for/safety-inclusion/
Trans Health Equity
We are here to help trans people of all genders – binary and non-binary – take control of their health.
Established in 2019, ACON’s Trans Health Equity Unit works to deliver projects and initiatives that support the health and wellbeing of trans people. Our work in trans health is led by the priority action areas outlined in ACON’s landmark Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the Trans and Gender Diverse Community in NSW.
Launched in 2020, TransHub continues to be one of the most important online portals for trans health and gender affirmation support across NSW. Since its launch, TransHub’s active visitors and engagement continues to be strong. Over the past year, TransHub recorded 1.3 million page views and a total of 194,000 users across Australia.
Sections and information on TransHub continue to be enhanced by the Trans Health Equity team to ensure it remains a leading evidence-based resource on trans and gender diverse health and wellbeing.
Work is under way on the national expansion of TransHub.
Trans Vitality is a suicide prevention program designed by and for trans people of all genders. The program includes workshops and a toolkit to reflect the techniques and strategies that trans communities were already using to combat transphobia and take control of their own health.
This year, the Trans Health Equity team trained eight trans-peer facilitators to run workshops, including face-to-face workshops in the Hunter region and Western Sydney. Four workshop streams were delivered, including workshops specifically for brotherboys, sistergirls, trans mob and trans people of colour. Shorter one-off workshops were also held, including a workshop in collaboration with the Inner City Legal Centre, an online hang-out and a clothes swap for trans people.
Feedback from these workshops emphasised the benefits of greater connections with trans community members.
ACON’s Trans Mental Health Service aims to improve the mental health, wellbeing and quality of life of trans people and people questioning their gender, through the delivery of affirming and inclusive care coordination, counselling, peer navigation and peer support. All peer workers delivering this essential service are also trans. This year our Trans Mental Health team delivered over 2200 occasions of service to more than 200 people across NSW.
The Trans Health Equity team are working on the national expansion project for TransHub, engaging community-controlled organisations in each state and territory to ensure a nationally consistent and central repository for social, medical and legal affirmation information and resources.
You can find out more about our work on trans and gender diverse health at acon.org.au/who-we-are-here-for/tgd-people
LGBTQ People With Disability
We’re here to support, build capacity, advocate for sexuality and gender diverse people with disabilities across Australia.
This year ACON’s LGBTQ+ People With Disability project worked to update and enhance its digital resource on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) tailored specifically for sexuality and gender diverse communities. The NDIS Guide for LGBTQ+ people provides vital culturally-specific information as well as helpful tips for the broader community on how to be effective allies to LGBTQ+ people with disability.
ACON also delivered virtual workshops to LGBTQ+ people with disability nationally, to provide people with information about navigating the NDIS and on rights, advocacy and community building. We welcomed guest presenters from LGBTQ+ disability communities, who shared their invaluable experiences in building inclusive communities and advocating for disability rights and justice. More than 150 LGBTQ+ people with disability attended these workshops.
This work was funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
In 2023, ACON launched the Disability Justice Social Group with funding from the NSW Government. This initiative serves 88 members through fortnightly online gatherings, fostering a supportive community for LGBTQ+ people with disabilities in NSW. The program aims to build a robust social network to promote community engagement, enhance support systems for LGBTQ+ individuals with disabilities, and strengthen community resilience while developing advocacy skills. Through these efforts, the Disability Justice Social Group strives to empower its members and create an inclusive social group.
This program exemplifies ACON’s commitment to addressing the intersectional needs of the LGBTQ+ community. By providing tailored resources and fostering community engagement, ACON continues to ensure that LGBTQ+ people with disability have access to support, information and spaces to build community connections.
Following a positive response, we will bolster our Disability Justice Social Group with a robust engagement program including two social events, a visit to QTopia and a larger social connections event during Mardi Gras for all LGBTQ+ people with disability to share interests, design zines, and learn craft skills from peers.
Ageing
We’re here to offer support, companionship and advice for older sexuality and gender diverse community members by providing health information and a range of programs and services.
The LOVE Project (Living Older Visibly and Engaged), ACON’s ageing initiative, aims to empower older LGBTQ+ communities, including people living with HIV, to lead healthy, active and more socially connected lives. ACON runs several activities under our LOVE Project umbrella supported by community allies and funders.
The LOVE Club Gatherings are a once-a-month activity responding to older LGBTQ+ community members wanting more safe spaces to socialise, more opportunities to stay connected and greater access to current health information and inclusive service providers.
This year, we hosted the second LOVE Social Celebration, a gathering to honour our fabulous trailblazing older community. Held at The Beresford in Surry Hills in August, the event brought LGBTQ+ community members and allies – young and old. We acknowledge the event’s platinum sponsor Dowson Turco Lawyers for the generous support and our event partners Inner West Council and Seniors Rights Service.
The Art Gallery of NSW extended a special invite to LOVE Project members and all older LGBTQ+ communities, carers and friends, to a queer art tour, creative workshop and afternoon tea, prior to the annual Art After Hours Mardi Gras event commencing.
With support from the City of Sydney, ACON’s LOVE Project held several activities focusing on bringing older people together. These included:
- Our annual movie matinee, Afternoon Delight, presented in association with Queer Screen as part of Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival. We held a movie screening and afternoon tea for the older LGBTQ+ community, friends, and allies.
- An Aged Care Update and Community Discussion for LGBTQ+ people, carers and friends. This was an opportunity for community members to listen to the latest information about aged care in NSW, their rights, quality standards and safety.
- LOVE Connections: an intergenerational art experience. The LOVE project brought together LGBTQ+ people of all ages to explore their creativity with artists Peta-Joy Williams and Wayde Clarke.
- Technology and Tea – Digital Technology event. Together with YourLink, the LOVE Project invited older LGBTQ+ people to explore technology and connect with likeminded community members.
ACON’s LOVE in the Regions project, funded by NSW Government, allows ACON to enhance our offerings to older LGBTQ+ people in regional areas. This hybrid program was launched in December 2023 and includes in-person and online activities through a partnership between the LOVE Project and ACON’s Northern Rivers office.
ACVVS, funded by the Australian Government, provides much needed social support to older LGBTQ+ adults experiencing loneliness or isolation. Trained volunteers make weekly or fortnightly one-on-one visits to older LGBTQ+ people for social interaction and support. Over the year, 44 volunteers provided social support for 55 recipients. The program has received further funding for three years, enabling it to expand to the Hunter region.
With funding from NSW Health, ACON will develop a comprehensive end of life and palliative care program, building on the existing co-designed toolkit, Taking Control, ACON’s resource to assist LGBTQ+ communities with palliative care and end-of-life decisions. The program will provide information about advance care planning, death and grief, and enable access to bereavement support for LGBTQ+ families and carers in NSW.
You can find out more about our work in ageing at acon.org.au/what-we-are-here-for/ageing/
Regional Services
We’re here to help sexuality and gender diverse people, and people with HIV in regional NSW take control of their health by providing a range of local services and supporting a variety of local community groups. We have offices in the Northern Rivers and the Hunter, along with outreach services operating across Western and Southern NSW.
Our regional teams engage with community members and people living with HIV in providing care coordination and counselling services, delivering health promotion campaigns, undertaking community development and peer education initiatives, supporting community groups and events, providing training and support to mainstream services, and providing access to needle and syringe programs. Our regional teams also provide face-to-face and off-site counselling via phone and the internet.
The ACON Northern Rivers office is based in Lismore and works with sexuality and gender diverse communities and people living with HIV, They provide services throughout the Northern NSW and the Mid North Coast – from Tweed Heads in the North to Port Macquarie in the south and out to Tabulam and Drake in the west. Among the highlights this year were:
- Delivered ACON’s HIV prevention campaign and sexual health messages at local events throughout the Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast. We promoted ACON’s HIV awareness campaigns at community events including World AIDS Day, Tropical Fruits Fair Day, R U OK Day at Southern Cross University, It’s OK on the Macleay, AIDS Candlelight Memorial, and NAIDOC Events across the Northern Rivers.
- Provided 11 In-Service training sessions that provide information for correct pronoun usage, HIV treatment, prevention and testing, and ACON services. These are free to community and aim to reduce stigma and discrimination for LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV.
- Delivered 1,133 occasions of service to community members seeking counselling and care coordination in the Northern Rivers region. This was delivered by our three full-time social workers.
- Supported domestic violence and suicide prevention.
- Our Client Services team and Health Promotion team worked together to continue a Community of Practice for clinicians to improve the care they provide to trans and gender diverse people. Over 50 people actively participate in this group.
- Supported mental health initiatives through our membership in Lismore Suicide Prevention Collaborative, TRISP Working Group and attending R U OK Day events across the region.
- Conducted 11 outreach trips to towns and cities across the Northern Rivers, facilitating social connection, networking, capacity building, and health and wellbeing opportunities.
- Attended 15 events to engage in health promotion and help create inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community and promote HIV awareness. These included events at local support groups for gay, bi+ and men who have sex with men, and people living with HIV.
- Continued to partner with local community organisations and support LGBTQ+ groups and people living with HIV, including Lismore Lads and Brunswick Lunch Club. While continuing to grow relationships with Rainbow Coffs Harbour, Out Loud Port Macquarie and Cheers Queers.
- Supported SWOP by hosting LGBTQ+ sex workers forum while their workers visited our region.
- Continued to work with and build relationships with the 8 Aboriginal Medical Services across our region and created tailored HIV LET’S TEST campaign posters.
- Distributed 11,552 free condoms.
- Distributed 17,702 sterile needles and syringes and provided 182 brief interventions via our Needle Syringe Program outlet.
- Partnered with Uniting using Fair Treatment framework to successfully lobby local council to install and maintain additional community sharps disposal bins.
Based in Newcastle, ACON Hunter works with the community and partner organisations throughout the Hunter, New England, Central Coast and Western NSW Regions. Among the highlights this year were:
- Delivered ACON’s HIV prevention and sexual health campaigns, including the LET’S TEST and mpox campaigns via our online platforms and through local networks.
- Engaged communities in regional NSW on ACON’s LGBTQ+ health campaigns and resources, including the Red Ribbon Appeal for World AIDS Day, Mpox vaccination, PrEP guides, Cancer Prevention, and Safety and Inclusion.
- Partnered with Hunter New England Sexual Health to offer a twice-weekly drop-in sexual health service that provided HIV and STI testing and treatment to over 419 clients.
- Partnered with SWOP to conduct 4 outreach visits to brothels and provided HIV and STI testing for 68 sex workers.
- Distributed 27,852 free condoms.
- Partnered with the Newcastle Libraries to deliver inclusion and wellbeing events and workshops.
- Partnered with HNE Sexual Health to provide HIV/STI testing at Newcastle Pride Fair Day for our communities. The collaboration saw a record 50 people complete sexual health testing.
- Attended events to engage in health promotion and help create inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community and promote HIV awareness. These included regional pride events, SHAG week with the University of Newcastle, Queer social and arts-based events, service provider expos, and outreach community catchups.
- Hit the road and brought ‘Gari’, the WorldPride First Nations Rainbow Serpent, to Armidale’s Winter Blooming Festival. She was displayed across the weekend at the New England Regional Art Museum.
- Attended and supported Orange’s first ever pride event, the Orange Rainbow Festival.
- Delivered a World AIDS Day forum HIV ‘Then & Now’ bringing different perspectives to the conversation around HIV and highlighting the changes we have seen over the years.
- Continued to deliver both peer education and training to local service providers working with our communities. In total, we delivered 35 education and capacity-building sessions to 426 participants from a broad section of our regional communities. Our Community Health Promotion Officers also provided an additional 8,226 occasions of health education to our LGBTQ+ peers.
- Conducted 26 outreach trips to towns and cities across the region, facilitating social connection, networking, capacity building, and health and wellbeing opportunities that were attended by more than 5,000 people. An additional 18,000 people attended Newcastle, Central Coast, and Lake Macquarie pride festivals, where ACON had activator stalls.
- Provided counselling, care coordination, and peer support to over 1,926 occasions of service directly to clients from the ACON Hunter Client Services Team and achieved a >95% client satisfaction rating.
- Maintained the peer-led Needle and Syringe Outreach Service and delivered 44,790 needles and syringes, and other sterile injecting equipment to people in regional areas with limited or no access to existing NSP outlets.
- Distributing a further 248,969 needles and syringes and providing community brief interventions and referrals at our Maitland Road NSP outlet
- Provided no-cost take-home Naloxone, a lifesaving medication that can temporarily reverse the effects of an overdose, to 79 people.
- Developed and distributed regionally focused HIV, sexual health, and harm minimisation health promotion resources.
ACON’s Regional Outreach team works with partners and services throughout the Illawarra Shoalhaven, Southern NSW, Nepean Blue Mountains, Murrumbidgee and Far West Local Health Districts. Among the highlights this year the team:
- Delivered ACONs HIV prevention campaigns and sexual health messages at local events in Wollongong, Albury, Wagga, Hay, Katoomba, Penrith, Bega, Young, Queanbeyan, Jindabyne and Nowra.
- Hosted a regional HIV testing week forum and a regional ‘Treatments Update’ forum.
Presented 2 workshops focusing on sexual health and wellbeing. - Delivered 21 in-service sessions to regional service providers and community groups.
- Hosted a rapid HIV testing pop up clinic at the Broken Heel Festival.
- Delivered 10,410 safe packs to community events, organisations and venues in Southern, Nepean Blue Mountains, Murrumbidgee and Far West regions.
Delivered World AIDS Day events in Wagga and Wollongong. - Delivered ACON resources to 96 services and organisations in the Southern, Nepean Blue Mountains, Murrumbidgee and Far West regions.
- Partnered with local GPs, and Primary Health Networks to develop ACON PrEP guides for the Blue Mountains, Wagga Wagga and the Southeast Coast, to improve access to PrEP in regional NSW.
- Supported and attended key events marking LGBTQ+ days of significance in Bowral, Wollongong, Leeton, Wagga, Hay, Katoomba and Penrith.
- Strengthened partnerships to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV. Including Illawarra Rainbow Community, Leeton Pride, Wagga Mardi Gras, Rainbow on the Plains, Broken Heel, Rainbow Wave Bega, Sexual Health Centres, Aboriginal Medical Services, Charles Sturt University, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University, Primary Health Networks, Local Health Districts, youth services, councils, women’s centres, community hubs, pubs and clubs.
- Attended or ran over 20 events and initiatives to engage in health promotion and help create inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community and promote HIV awareness. These included Broken Heel Festival, University of Wollongong RUOK Day, Western Sydney Rainbow Connection speaker series Penrith, Leeton Pride festival, Wollongong ‘Say No to Bullying’ event, Parramatta Pride Picnic, Queerstories at Thirroul Library, Trans and Friends festival Illawarra, Rainbow on the Plains festival Hay, World AIDS Day Red Party Wollongong, Wagga World AIDS Day luncheon and webinar, Wagga Mardi Gras Festival, University of Wollongong IDAHOBIT event, IDAHOBIT stall and workshop Leeton, Albury Pride short Film Festival, Bent Art festival Katoomba, Wollongong pride market, Mittagong pride event, NBMLHD refugee mental health week event and University of Wollongong Open Day.
- Conducted 38 outreach trips to towns and cities across the region including Lithgow, Katoomba, Penrith, Hawksbury, Albury, Wagga, Hay, Broken Hill, Nowra, Wollongong, Eden, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Kiama, Jindabyne, Young, Batemans Bay, Illawarra, Port Kembla, Yass, Cootamundra, Pambula, Moruya, Temora, Griffith, Deniliquin and the South Coast.
With new funding from NSW Health, ACON’s Regional Services Division will expand counselling and peer work support for people identifying as LGBTQ+ at risk of suicide.
ACON Northern Rivers will collaborate with the HIV and Related Programs Service Divisions of the Northern and Mid Northern Coast Local Health Districts to provide tailored response to Aboriginal communities across the region, aiming to reduce the transmission rates of blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections for these communities.
Our Regional Outreach team will work with communities to update the Wollongong AIDS memorial to include all of those in the Illawarra Shoalhaven who were lost to an AIDS-related illness.
You can find out more about our work in regional NSW at acon.org.au/who-we-are-here-for/regional-nsw/
Pride Inclusion Programs
We’re here to help make the places where our community members live, work, study, play and heal more inclusive of people of diverse sexualities and genders.
Pride Inclusion Programs is a fully self-funded division within ACON that works across multiple programs to ensure LGBTQ+ inclusion within Australian workplaces, Australian Sport and Health and Wellbeing settings. The division not only provides bespoke year-round support via its multiple membership options, but also provides leading international benchmarking instruments and survey tools that can be used to access and benchmark national activity in this space.
Pride Training, a bespoke LGBTQ+ training program within the division, provides both face-to-face programs and customised online content over and above that provided by membership programs.
All programs are evidence based driven by annual benchmarking data, survey analytics collected from over 47,000 respondents annually and academic journal participation and contribution.
Pride in Diversity (PID) welcomed 46 new members this year closing the financial year with a membership of 515 organisations (growth of 9.8%), representing approximately 4,000,000 Australian employees. In addition to year-round support for these members, PID delivered 770 hours of member training, released a publication on Cracking the Rainbow Glass Ceiling and produced several trans and gender diverse recruitment factsheets.
Executive engagement also stepped up this year with the delivery of 12 in-person Executive Leader events attended by more than 550 executives across the country. In addition, members were brought together across seven states and territories to participate in roundtable discussions and best practice forums.
Pride in Sport now works with over 100 major sporting organisations to assist them at all levels with the inclusion of employees, athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators with diverse sexualities and genders through its membership program and major projects.
Highlights this year include gaining a strategic position on the Diversity & Inclusion in Sport Alliance, the launch of the inaugural Australian Pride in Sport Summit, with over 200 attendees nationwide and the hosting of its first CEO Forum.
Pride in Sport continues to build on partnerships with the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Human Rights Commission, and Sport Integrity.
The Pride in Health + Wellbeing (PIHW) program supports health and wellbeing organisations with inclusive service delivery, and it sits within a broader health sector team. This team includes PID expertise and collaborates with ACON programs, enabling it to offer comprehensive inclusion support in health settings, currently servicing 71 PIHW members and 48 PID members.
This year PIHW launched a new advisory group, a National Community of Practice and a webinar series, with a presence at various key conferences and roundtables, and a growing number of collaborative research projects.
Pride Training saw significant growth this year in training delivered, reach, and profit. Facilitated training (both in-person and webinars) increased by 22%. Learner reach increased by 33% and hours of learning by 32%.
While individual eLearning seats purchased decreased to 2,023 (-57%), the program saw a huge upsurge in licenced eLearning agreements – an increase of 84% and a reach of approximately 8,000 learners. The overall satisfaction score of all training remained steady at 9.3/10. In addition, the team was contracted to develop bespoke eLearning courses for NSW Ambulance, Origin Energy, and The Federal Circuit Family Court of Australia.
The Quality Training and Research (QTR) team manages the national indices and surveys for all programs, internal training quality & compliance as well as all academic research activity.
All programmatic indices set the national benchmark for LGBTQ+ inclusion within their respective areas. This year 164 Employers submitted for the Australian Workplace Equality Index, (AWEI), 29 Health organisations for the Health + Wellbeing Index (HWEI) and 47 Sporting organisations for the Sports Index (PSI). These indices set the national benchmark for LGBTQ+ inclusion and are internationally viewed as Gold standard indices.
In terms of programmatic surveys, the AWEI saw 41,219 responses, the HWEI 2,399 and the PSI 1,197 responses. This data is analysed throughout the year providing annual Australian data to both inform and drive practice nationally.
The QTR team works closely with academic consultants and engages PhD candidates to complete internships within the programs. The team has published several academic papers utilising internal data and is currently extending its research capability with multiple universities.
Our Operations, Events & Partnerships team not only ensures the smooth running of the division but is also responsible for the execution of programmatic events and sponsorships. This year, sponsorships for the LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards rose by 39% with an attendance of 1,010, and sponsorships for the Sports Awards increased by 34%.
Pride in Sport held its inaugural Pride in Sport Summit attracting 200 attendees from across the country, alongside the first Sports CEO Summit.
Pride in Health & Wellbeing held its awards online this year with plans to seek funding for an in-person celebration of achievements going forward.
The annual Pride in Practice conference held this year in Sydney attracted 876 delegates, showcasing 56 sessions across the three days achieving $115,000 in sponsorship for the three-day event.
Pride Inclusion Programs will this year launch two new initiatives to meet the ongoing needs of member organisations. The first will be Pride Pathways, a talent development program that will provide leadership development for future LGBTQ+ leaders as well as support for their employers to create cultures of ongoing professional development. The second initiative will be Pride Consulting, an opportunity for member and non-member organisations alike to engage Senior Relationship Managers and executive within the division, for finite consulting projects that focus on the work of each of the respective program areas.
You can find out more about our work in LGBTQ inclusion at prideinclusionprograms.com.au.
Our Focus Areas
