About ACON

Our Clients

Our clients most often come from within our communities, but not always, and no-one is turned away. Of course sometimes the best service we can provide is to assess someone’s needs and refer them to a more appropriate service, but this will always be done after full consideration of the facts. Some of our main client groups are:

Gay Men + Other Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM)

We help gay men and other men who have sex with men to improve their health and wellbeing by providing relevant knowledge, skills, resources and social networks. We focus a lot on HIV prevention and support because HIV is a significant health issue for men who have sex with men.

Lesbians + Other Same-Sex Attracted Women (SSAW)

We help lesbians and other same-sex attracted women to improve their health and wellbeing by providing relevant knowledge, skills, resources and social networks.

People With HIV

In NSW, most people with HIV are gay men so our services reflect this. However, HIV doesn't discriminate and neither do we. Heterosexual people with HIV are welcome at ACON and we provide information and a range of support services to help them, their families and their carers.

Young GLBT People

We help young people (u26) in our community to improve their health and connect with other young people by providing a range of programs, workshops, resources and events.

Mature Age GLBT People

We help mature aged people in our community to improve their health and wellbeing by providing support groups, developing health promotion initiatives and advocating for improved mainstream health and aged care services.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

We help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community to improve their health and wellbeing by providing information, skills, resources and social networks within a culturally appropriate model of holistic health.

Transgender People

We help transgender people improve their health and wellbeing by providing a range of mental health, alcohol and drug, and other health promotion services.

Sex Workers

Through our Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), we provide sexual health information and support services across NSW to escorts as well as private, brothel and street-based workers.

People Who Use Drugs

Minimising the risks associated with injecting drugs is important for public health and the prevention of blood-borne viruses, so we offer information, support services and treatment referrals for people who inject drugs. We also work on preventing and reducing the harms associated with other types of drug use.

People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (CALD)

We work closely with the Multicultural HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Service (MHAHS) and other partners to ensure that our HIV work targets those groups which epidemiology tells us are at greatest risk of HIV transmission.

Community Stakeholders

We work in partnership with a range of government agencies and community groups including NSW Health, Positive Life NSW, the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the National LGBT Health Alliance and the AIDS Trust of Australia. We also work closely with a range of research bodies and healthcare providers.