We are a fiercely proud community organisation. For our entire history, the work of ACON has been designed by and for our communities.
Established in 1985, our early years were defined by community coming together to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in NSW, and we remain committed to ending HIV for everyone in our communities. We do this by delivering campaigns and programs to eliminate new HIV transmissions. Supporting people living with HIV to live healthy and connected lives remains core to our work.
As we have grown, we have been proud to work with a diverse range of people to ensure their voice and health needs are represented in the work we do.
Our Purpose, Vision and Values
Our Purpose:
We create opportunities for people in our communities to live healthier, more connected lives
Our Vision:
We strive to be a global leader in health, inclusion and HIV responses for all people in our communities
Our Values:
COMMUNITY – We are made for and by our community. Lived experience is at the heart of what do and guides our decision-making.
COLLABORATION – We work meaningfully with, and value the expertise of, our communities, colleagues, partners and allies.
COMPASSION – We acknowledge the stigma, discrimination and inequality our communities face. We hold these experiences with care and compassion as we conduct our work.
COURAGE – We strive to be courageous in who we are and the ways we work, constantly evolving, and working with integrity to ensure the best possible outcomes for our communities.
EQUITY – We recognise that improving health outcomes requires varying levels of investment to help rectify structural inequities. We strive to work with an intersectional lens to champion the needs of our communities, recognising the systems that compound diverse and overlapping circumstances.
Our Communities
We work for people of diverse sexualities, trans and gender diverse people, and people who are living with HIV.
Our beginnings are deeply embedded in NSW, including inner Sydney, Greater Western Sydney, and rural and regional NSW. We deliver some programs and services nationally, often in partnership. Digitally, our work is seen around the world.
We believe that the diverse experiences and backgrounds of people are vital to the strength and wellbeing of our communities. We know that health is influenced by the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, and shape their access to power, money, and resources. These social determinants of health drive the inequities we seek to address.
Our services strive to honour the many intersecting identities and circumstances that shape our communities, be it HIV status, sexuality, gender, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, age, culture, disability, migration status, job, income or variations of sex characteristics.
Our Impact Priorities
1. Our communities achieve virtual elimination of HIV transmission, and people living with HIV have a high quality of life
Over the next five years, we will sustain the strong growth of our psychosocial services, and enhance the capacity and quality of our mental health services. We will succeed if:
People in our communities at risk of HIV, including priority populations, consistently use at least one HIV prevention method, and test often.
People living with HIV in our communities report a high quality of life and an undetectable viral load.
HIV-related stigma is reduced.
2. The psychosocial health and wellbeing of ACON’s peers and clients are improved
Over the next five years, we will sustain the strong growth of our psychosocial services, and enhance the capacity and quality of our mental health services. We will succeed if:
ACON’s peers and clients find our services effective and LGBTQ+ culturally competent.
ACON’s peers and clients engage in meaningful recovery and manage their wellbeing over the long term.
ACON’s clients facing complex challenges (such as HIV, disability, substance use and minority stress), experience reduced psychological distress and an enhanced quality of life.
3. The health and wellbeing of our communities are improved through preventive measures
Over the next five years, we will reach more people in our communities with high-quality preventive health programs. We will succeed if:
Our communities are empowered to manage their health and wellbeing as they age.
Our communities are willing to take up cancer screening and preventive action more frequently.
Our communities are informed on how to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs.
Our communities are confident in managing their sexual and reproductive health.
Our communities are empowered to have healthy relationships.
4. People in our communities build new and meaningful social connections and have a stronger sense of belonging
Over the next five years, we will secure long-term investment for ACON and partners in tailored community development programs. We will succeed if:
Our communities build meaningful social connections across NSW for people of all ages and genders.
Older people in our communities have access to community connection and support.
Trans and gender diverse people are affirmed in their identities and have access to community connection and support.
LGBTQSB+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have access to culturally safe and community-controlled spaces where they feel secure in identity and connection.
Culturally and racially marginalised LGBTQ+ people have access to culturally safe, welcoming and empowering spaces.
Women in our communities, both cis and trans, have access to empowering spaces and opportunities for meaningful community connections.
5. Our communities can participate in safe, inclusive spaces across Australia
Over the next five years, we will evolve our inclusion services and maintain our strong voice in community advocacy. We will succeed if:
Workplaces, health, community and sporting sectors are safer and more inclusive for our communities.
People in our communities feel empowered to protect each other’s safety.
Health research includes our communities, is conducted ethically and leads to better outcomes.
Laws, policies and government strategies recognise and protect the rights of our communities.
Our Ways of Working
We have impact by offering services across our ways of working. Over the next five years, we will:
Leverage strong partnerships to be a leader in delivering LGBTQ+ health promotion information and campaigns.
Demonstrate quality and consumer focus in our direct peer-led and client services.
Offer targeted peer education and community connection programs.
Facilitate easy access to testing and screening.
Widely distribute HIV and STI prevention material.
Develop and support trusted, evidence-based policy, research and advocacy.
Lead in LGBTQ+ inclusion through provision of consulting, knowledge and expertise.
Our Enablers
1. Our people
Confident, supported and capable staff, leaders, and volunteers are essential to the success of our work. Over the next five years, we will:
Continue to build a diverse workforce that reflects our clients and communities.
Strengthen internal collaboration.
Strengthen leadership capability and pathways.
Use clear capability frameworks to develop our skills.
2. Our infrastructure
Responsive, secure and accessible digital and physical environments are key to achieving our goals. Over the next five years, we will:
Modernise our technology to support contemporary services and programs, and impact measurement.
Upgrade our properties to support current ways of working.
3. Our financial resources
Sustainable and efficient use of our resources is a prerequisite to our overall success. Over the next five years, we will:
Our impact depends on ensuring our work is of high quality and is continuously improving. Over the next five years, we will:
Substantially strengthen our data management and governance to drive data-led decision-making.
Enhance our quality frameworks to drive outcomes and continuous improvement.
Embed reflective practice and performance reporting across our work.
5. Our communities and partners
Meaningful relationships with our communities and partners drive our success. Over the next five years, we will:
Improve our ability to design services and programs around the needs and experiences of our communities.
Strengthen our partnerships and foster collaboration.
Ensure that Kaleido Health Centre continues to be a pivotal partner in achieving our shared purpose.
Improve our communication strategies to deepen our connection with community.
ACON’s Impact Strategy 2025-2030
Released in August 2025, ACON’s Impact Strategy 2025–2030 is the next step in our organisation’s story. This Plan outlines our ambition to create healthier and more connected communities by measuring our impact, scaling effective programs, and improving quality across all areas of our work. Achieving this requires a skilled and engaged workforce, sustainable resources, and contemporary systems and infrastructure.
Five Impact Priorities will guide our work:
We will adapt and evolve our HIV programs to respond to a complex epidemic as we strive to achieve virtual elimination of transmission.
We aim to continue strong growth in psychosocial health services and expect to scale up high-quality preventive health education and campaigns.
We aim to secure dedicated and sustainable resources for community development, and advance our inclusion programs and advocacy, building on past success.
We will continue our role as a trusted advisor to governments and a leader in organisational inclusive practice.
We will expand access to prevention tools and testing and screening services.
To support this, we will invest in the development of our people and leadership, upgrade our technology and infrastructure, and grow our financial resources, including fundraised income. We will strengthen our quality frameworks, improve the use of data, and deepen our partnerships with communities and allies.
Together, these efforts will position ACON to lead nationally and grow our influence as a global leader in health, inclusion, and HIV responses for all people in our communities.
ACON is proud to continue walking the national reconciliation journey with the release of the second iteration of its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
The Innovate RAP 2023-2025 adds to our organisation’s ongoing commitment to ensuring First Nations people of diverse genders and sexualities can live their healthiest lives, as well as celebrate the longest living culture on Earth, acknowledge history, build closer relationships, and to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The development of the second Innovate RAP was overseen by ACON’s Reconciliation Working Group, the organisation’s internal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory committee made up of staff and community representatives.
ACON’s Innovate RAP 2023-2025 artwork was created by Wiradjuri and Birpai man Wayde Clarke, and is titled ‘Rainbow Pride, Rainbow Strong’.
ACON launched its first RAP in 2018, committing ACON to create a strategic, collaborative, and whole-of-organisation approach to its work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Across each of ACON’s RAPs, the organisation has worked with Reconciliation Australia to develop a formal framework to ensure its work supports the national reconciliation movement.
With the implementation of its second Innovate RAP, ACON will continue to foster a more strategic, collaborative and whole of organisation approach to our work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
ACON acknowledges and pays respects to the traditional custodians of all the lands on which we work. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
Keep updated with our RAP e-news. Sign up here:
ACON’s Multicultural Engagement Plan
ACON has produced a Multicultural Engagement Plan which provides a three-year framework to guide the way ACON engages with and empowers community members and staff from culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse, migrant, and refugee backgrounds, and people of colour. You can read the Plan here.
Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the Trans and Gender Diverse Community in NSW
In 2019 ACON launched the Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the Trans and Gender Diverse Community in NSW.
The Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the Trans and Gender Diverse Community in NSW (the Blueprint) outlines the key approaches required to improve the health outcomes of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people in NSW and to strengthen the inclusion of TGD people within ACON’s programs and services.
The Blueprint was developed with the support of ACON’s TGD Community Health Advisory Group, which comprised members of the TGD community, clinicians and community organisations.
The development of the Blueprint was informed by a comprehensive review of national and international literature, and an extensive consultation process. This consultation process included a community survey of over 450 people, six community meetings across NSW (Sydney, Newcastle, Lismore, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga and Liverpool) and key stakeholder interviews with TGD community leaders, GPs, endocrinologists, sexual health physicians, NSW Health officials, and human rights lawyers.
Anyone can access and use this Blueprint to support their local, state-wide and even national advocacy efforts that seek to progress and improve the rights, health and lives of TGD communities. ACON is proud to support this work and to continue raising the visibility of TGD community priorities and needs
Incorporated in 1985 as the AIDS Council of NSW, ACON is widely recognised as an innovative and successful organisation which has adapted to changes in the HIV epidemic and responded early to emerging health issues among our communities.
Since our inception, we’ve been at the forefront of advocacy around issues relating to HIV and to sexuality and gender diverse health, drawing on our close connections to community to identify emerging issues and create dialogue around these issues with policy makers and researchers.
We’ve also worked alongside researchers and partners to build a stronger evidence base around HIV and sexuality and gender diverse health, much of which has subsequently affirmed the issues identified by our communities.
The ACON Campaigns Database is a digital archive featuring all the HIV and LGBTQ+ health related social marketing campaigns that the organisation produced since it was established in 1985 in response to the epidemic.
NSW Deputy Premier and Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt joined leaders from the health, government, business and community sectors at a reception at Sydney’s Town Hall to mark ACON’s 25th anniversary.
Justin Koonin, President BSc (Hons), PhD, CFA, FAICD
Justin has worked within LGBTQ community organisations for almost twenty years. Internationally, he is a member of the Political Advisory Panel for the Universal Health Coverage Movement and a former co-chair of UHC2030, the global multistakeholder partnership for Universal Health Coverage, as well as a member of multiple WHO expert panels. Justin is Distinguished Fellow and Honorary Professorial Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of New South Wales. He is also an Advisory Governor of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Not-for-Profit Chairs Advisory Forum. He is trained as a mathematician, and currently works as an investment analyst. He has also worked as a postdoctoral research associate (at the University of Sydney), and as a consultant in the areas of predictive analytics and data.
Louisa Degenhardt AO, Vice President
Louisa Degenhardt AO, Vice-President BA (Hons), MPsychology (Clinical), PhD
Louisa is UNSW Scientia Professor, NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW. She was awarded her PhD in 2003, examining the comorbidity of drug use and mental disorders in the Australian population. She has honorary Professorial appointments at University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and University of Washington’s Department of Global Health in the School of Public Health. Louisa conducts diverse epidemiological studies including data linkage studies focusing on people with extra-medical or dependent opioid use, chronic pain, analysis of large-scale community and clinical surveys, and cohorts of young people. She is currently CI with CI Dore and Farrell on an NHMRC Program Grant focussed on drug dependence and viral hepatitis. In 2023, Louisa was announced as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of her distinguished services to medical research, particularly addiction and mental disorders, to psychology, and to professional associations.
Alex Sosnov
Alex Sosnov BA, BSW, MEd (Ed Psych), MAICD
Alex Sosnov is an HR and business leader with 30+ years’ experience in people and organisational development. She has led teams across multiple continents and cultures and has worked primarily in Global Financial Services but also in Retail, Health and Not for Profit. Alex is currently employed as a People & Culture Executive at MetLife. Passionate about community, Alex has previously served as co-convenor of The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby and is a former Chair of the Aurora Group (now Rainbow Giving Australia). In a full circle moment, Alex is also a former ACON employee responsible for counselling and health advocacy of clients and staff during the mid-90’s. Alex is a member of the AICD, and holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Educational Psychology from Sydney University.
Atari Metcalf
Atari Metcalf BSc, MD, FRACGP
Atari is an openly trans Specialist General Practitioner with a focus on sexual and reproductive health. He completed his internship and residency at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney working across a variety of medical and surgical specialties in addition to completing secondments in paediatrics and Aboriginal health before going on to complete his Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Prior to practising medicine Atari spent 15 years working in health promotion research, policy and strategy within community and digital mental and sexual health services, as well as working as an analyst on national inquiries into asylum seeker, transgender and intersex health and human rights for the Australian Human Rights Commission. Before joining ACON’s Board Atari also served as a Board Director at Suicide Prevention Australia and as co-chair of Twenty10 incorporating NSW Gay and Lesbian Counselling Services.
Benjamin Bavinton
Benjamin Bavinton BA (Hons), MPH, PhD
Benjamin has worked in the field of HIV prevention and research for 20 years in Australia and internationally. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, and leads the Biobehavioural HIV Prevention Research Group. His research focuses on the biomedical, behavioural and epidemiological aspects of HIV prevention among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and transgender women in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. He worked at ACON in peer education with gay, bisexual and queer men from 2004 to 2010, which also included 12 months working at UNAIDS in Bangkok, Thailand.
Jason Glanville
Jason Glanville
Jason is a Wiradjuri start-up founder with extensive governance expertise and experience across community, corporate, government and philanthropy. He works as an adviser on strategy, leadership, governance and systems transformation working with leaders across the commercial, for-purpose, and creative sectors to create platforms for sustainable change. Jason is a Co-founder and Director of Native Foodways, was the inaugural Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity program and creator and inaugural CEO of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence. He was part of the start-up team that built Reconciliation Australia and served on its Board for five years. He is currently Chair of the Foundation for Young Australians and a member of the Board of the GO Foundation and, until recently, was Chair of PwC Indigenous Consulting and the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute. Jason is an Adjunct Professor at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at University of Technology Sydney and a member of the Indigenous Advisory Group at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Jimmy Yu Hsiang Chen
Jimmy Chen
Jimmy Yu-Hsiang Chen joined the ACON Board in the role of Board Associate. Jimmy is the Networks Project Officer at the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA), where he passionately focuses on community engagement and collaboration with people living with HIV from a range of diverse communities. He also works at ACON’s a[TEST] clinic, providing sexual health education and prevention information to the priority community.
Somali Cerise
Somali Cerise BA, MSc
Somali Cerise is a gender equality and human rights expert with 20 years’ experience leading policy and research initiatives across Australia and globally. She currently works on a range of gender equality initiatives with the Elizabeth Broderick & Co, Champions of Change Coalition, UN Women, and the University of Sydney. She has previously been a Convener of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, a board member of the Inner City Legal Centre and Aurora Foundation. Somali is also a Member of the Policy and Advisory Committee for the National Women’s Safety Alliance and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University Gender Institute. She has a BA (UTS) and a Master of Science (Human Rights) (London School of Economics and Political Science).
Zoé de Saram PSM
Zoé de Saram PSM BAgrEc, MAICD
Zoé is a highly respected professional with considerable experience in the design and execution of strategy, policy, and service delivery. She has held a number of senior executive roles in the NSW Government and has a deep understanding of the architecture of government and the way it operates. She is also very well connected to a diverse range of key personnel across Federal, State and Local governments. In February 2021, Zoé was appointed to the role of Director, Performance Audit, at the Audit Office of NSW. Prior to that she was Executive Advisor, Public Sector Practice at the North Point Consulting Group, a boutique firm specialising in designing and executing strategy, digitally enabled business models and business transformation. She is actively involved in raising awareness about breast cancer and supporting women recovering from breast cancer.
Our Senior Leadership Team
Michael Woodhouse
Michael Woodhouse, Chief Executive Officer Michael has been an executive leader in health and human services for over 20 years including roles in both the government and not for profit sector. He has a strong interest in community led services and programs and in better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Michael has experience in primary health care, disability support, aged care, child and family services and inclusion strategies. Michael has been involved in many LGBTQ+ community organisations including a time as Co-Chair of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. He was added to the Mardi Gras Hall of Fame in 2023. Michael was appointed as CEO of ACON in September 2024.
Brent Mackie
Brent Mackie, Director, Policy, Strategy & Research
During his more than 30-year career Brent Mackie’s work has included communications, media and social marketing, management, population health, social research, and policy and program development. Brent has worked in numerous senior leadership roles in both government and non-government organisations. Brent has a Master of Arts by Research in Health and Sexuality as well as degrees in sociology and communications. Brent has extensive experience in health research and is a passionate community advocate and volunteer.
Dawn-Emsen Hough
Dawn-Emsen Hough, Director, Pride Inclusion Programs
Dawn started with ACON in 2009 with the remit of building a national Pride in Diversity Program and to develop a national benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ workplace Inclusion in Australia (AWEI). Since that time, the program has grown to incorporate Pride in Sport, Pride in Health + Wellbeing and Pride Training. Pride in Diversity has also gained an international reputation for its leading practice and gold standard index. Dawn has a background in financial services, talent management and OD with academic qualifications in adult education and cognitive science. Dawn was appointed Adjunct Senior Fellow at University of Queensland 2021 and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Eloise Layard
Eloise Layard, Acting Director, Community Health
Eloise began her career as a social worker in the federal public service, before commencing at ACON over five years ago to coordinate ACON’s sexual, domestic and family violence program. Eloise is a member of a number of NSW and national sexual, domestic and family violence related advisory groups, including the National Plan Advisory Group. The Community Health Division includes ACON’s Gadigal Sydney-based Client Services programs, including counselling, care coordination and peer support; as well as NSW-wide and national LGBTQ+ health, equity and harm reduction programs.
Matthew Vaughan
Matthew Vaughan, Director, HIV & Sexual Health
Matthew is the Director for HIV Sexual Health at Australia’s largest LGBTQ+ health organisation – ACON. He leads the strategy, and development of programs which seek to end HIV transmissions in NSW. Matthew has been working within the community services sector for the past 18 years in a variety of roles within Government, Non-Government and Community-based organisations at state, national and international level.
Reg Domingo
Reg Domingo, Director, Marketing, Communications & Fundraising
Reg is ACON’s Director of Marketing, Communications and Fundraising. He has over 15 years’ experience in journalism, publishing, public relations and strategic communications. He has a background in news and feature writing, as well as radio broadcasting and digital media, specialising in LGBTQ issues. Over the years, he has held a number of senior roles in publishing overseeing editorial strategy, marketing, partnerships and business development.
Sophie Potter
Sophie Potter, Director, Client Services
Sophie Potter has worked across the community sector in Australia, the UK, and south-east Asia for 25 years. Prior to leading the Client Services team at ACON she was in senior leadership roles at leading mental health services QLife, ReachOut and SANE Australia. Sophie is a values-driven, collaborative leader where her lived/living experiences are at heart of her work. Sophie has a strong track record in service innovation, consumer participation, safety & quality governance, and workforce engagement. One of Sophie’s core values is that LGBTQ+ people deserve exceptional, effective, and culturally competent services.
Dr Susan Culverston
Dr Susan Culverston, Director, Corporate Services and Company Secretary
Susan has more than 20 years’ experience in management, administration and leadership across a range of environments including the corporate sector, not-for-profit organisations and both Commonwealth and State public sectors. Susan has a Doctorate in Business Administration with the focus of her thesis being ‘Collaborations in the Not for Profit Sector’. She is passionate about ensuring that organisations in the sector continue to adopt leading practices in governance and business management.
Sabine D’Haeseleer
Sabine D’Haeseleer, EA to CEO
Sabine joined ACON in 2013 in the role of Executive Assistant to the CEO. Sabine is originally from Belgium, where she studied business administration/secretariat and languages. She has spent most of her working life in Canada, Norway and Angola before moving to Sydney in 2001 where she continued to build her career in different sectors and industries as a Senior Executive Assistant.
Since 2001 ACON has undertaken regular internal and external reviews of our policies, practices and services in an effort to identify areas for improvement as well as areas of excellence.
ACON is peer- reviewed every three years using the Health and Community Services Standards developed by the Quality Improvement Council of Australia.
We have achieved National Accreditation after each external review. For more information contact our Quality Improvement Coordinator on 02 9206 2000.
Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
Copyright
ACON materials may be reproduced in part or in full with acknowledgment to ACON. Commonwealth and NSW government information and materials on this website, including data, pages, documents, graphics, images and webpages, audio and video are protected by copyright, unless specifically notified to the contrary.
Use of materials and information
You may download, store in cache, display, print and copy a single copy or part of a single copy of information or material from this site only for your personal, non-commercial use and only in an unaltered form.
Information or material from this site may be used for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and may only be reproduced as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (a copy of the Act is available at SCALEplus the legal information retrieval system owned by the Australian Attorney General’s Department, at http://scaleplus.law.gov.au).
Any permitted reproduction made must acknowledge ACON source of any selected passage, extract, diagram or other information or material reproduced. Any reproduction made of the information or material must include a copy of the original copyright and disclaimer notices as set out here.
Commercial and other use
You are not permitted to re-transmit, distribute or commercialise the information or material without full acknowledgement to ACON or by seeking prior written approval from ACON. For written permission to use the information or material from this site, please contact the ACON Online + New Media Producer. You may not use this website to sell a product or service, or to increase traffic to your website for commercial reasons, such as advertising sales.
Please email the ACON Online + New Media Producer with any questions you may have about our website programs or policies, or to provide feedback on this website.
Linking to this site
You may link to this site. Permission is not granted to reproduce, frame or reformat the files, pages, images, information and materials from this site on any other site unless express written permission has been obtained from the ACON Online + New Media Producer.
Disclaimer Provision
This website is presented by ACON for the purpose of disseminating health information. This website is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this site is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any sexually transmitted infection (STI), HIV or hepatitis A, B or C or mental health conditions, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional’s advice. ACON does not accept any liability for any illness, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information contained in this website.
Quality of information
ACON makes every effort to ensure the quality of the information available on this website and updates the information regularly. Before relying on the information on this site, however, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. ACON cannot guarantee and assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information.
Links to external websites
This website contains links to external websites. ACON takes due care in selecting linked websites. It is the responsibility of the user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external websites.
Linkage to external websites should not be taken to be an endorsement or a recommendation of any third party products or services offered by virtue of any information, material or content linked from or to this site. Users of links provided by this site are responsible for being aware of which organisation is hosting the site they visit.
Views or recommendations provided in linked sites do not necessarily reflect those of ACON.
Security
Every endeavour is made to ensure that this site is secure. However, users should be aware that the World Wide Web is an insecure public network that gives rise to a potential risk that a user’s transactions are being viewed, intercepted or modified by third parties or that files which the user down loads may contain computer viruses or other defects.
ACON accepts no liability for any interference with or damage to a user’s computer system, software or data occurring in connection with this website. Users are encouraged to take appropriate and adequate precautions to ensure that whatever is selected from this site is free of viruses or other contamination that may interfere with or damage the user’s computer system, software or data.
Privacy statement information
ACON makes every effort to comply with the Information Privacy Principles (1 –3, and 10 and 11) contained within the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 in the collection and privacy protection of its website users. A copy of the Act is available at SCALEplus the legal information retrieval system owned by the Australian Attorney General’s Department at http://scaleplus.law.gov.au.
ACON will only record your email address in the event that you send us a message by email or if you register requesting notifications. Registration for notifications may be made initially by email, postal mail or fax. Your email address will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to any mailing lists without your prior consent by way of a specific request in writing. We will not use or disclose your email address for any other purpose, without your prior written consent.
Cookies and clickstream data
ACON uses a ‘cookie’ for maintaining contact with a user through a website session. A cookie is a small file supplied by ACON and stored by the web browser software on your computer when you access ACON’s website. (An explanation of cookies generally can be found at the site of the Australian Privacy Commissioner).
The cookie enables ACON to recognise you as an individual as you move from one page to another. This cookie will be immediately lost when you end your internet session and shut down your computer.
Our copy of your information will be automatically deleted twenty minutes after you last used the system. This information is only used to help you use our website systems more efficiently, not to track your movements through the internet, or to record information about you.
Any system on this website that records information about you will specifically ask your permission first.
ACON makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:
the user’s server address
the user’s top level domain name
the date and time of access to the site
pages accessed and documents down loaded
the previous site visited
This information is analysed to show broken links in our website, traffic problems, and other site problems. We use this information to redesign for efficiency of use.
No attempt will be made to identify anonymous users or their browsing activities unless legally compelled to do so, such as in the event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the Internet Service Provider’s log files.
Personal information
Information provided through the ACON website will comply with Information Privacy Principles (see Glossary below), and particularly principles 1 to 3 and 10 and 11. Stated simply these principles are:
Principle 1 – Collection of information must be lawful and fair
Principle 2 – Informing people why information is collected
Principle 3 – Ensuring personal information collected is of good quality and not too intrusive
Principle 10 – Limiting the use of personal information to the purposes for which it was collected
Principle 11 – Preventing the disclosure of personal information outside the agency.
ACON Health Limited trading as ACON Privacy Policy
“Protecting the privacy of health information is an integral part of providing quality health care” (WHO)
This policy applies to the whole of ACON, the Board, staff (including all levels of management), volunteers and contracted service partners.
Client confidentiality has been an underpinning philosophy and foundation of ACON’s work since our inception in 1985. ACON supports the spirit of intent and complies with and where possible strives to exceed the requirements of the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000.
ACON’s Privacy Policy outlines what happens to personal information collected by ACON, how it is used and how you can find out what information ACON holds about you. It also explains how you can have it changed or altered if it is incorrect or out of date.
Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000
The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 which amends the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, sets out your rights and ACON’s responsibility relating to any personal information held about you as an individual who uses ACON’s services. This policy does not apply to information held by ACON about staff or volunteers. Different legislation applies to staff and volunteer records.
The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (hereafter referred to as the Act) which includes the National Privacy Principles sets out how private sector organisations such as ACON should collect, keep, use and disclose personal information. ACON complies with and wherever possible strives to exceed the requirements of the Act. ACON complies with all of the National Privacy Principles.
The Act provides you as an individual with the right to know why ACON holds your personal information, what information is held about you, how ACON will use that information and under what circumstances your personal information may be divulged to others. You have the right to ask to see your personal information and for it to be changed or altered if incorrect or out of date. Under special circumstances ACON may refuse to allow you to see information held about you, in doing so, ACON in accordance with the Act is required to explain why. The Act stipulates that you may make a complaint if you think your information is not used or held appropriately and in accordance with the Act.
Personal Information
Personal information includes such things as your full name, date of birth, gender and address and other contact details. The Act recognises that information of a more sensitive nature may be collected by organisations such as ACON in order to provide you with, or refer you to particular services. Sensitive information is a subset of personal information. It means information or opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record or health information about an individual
Collection
ACON will collect only the information, which is necessary to provide you with the highest standard of service.
We will only collect information about you with your consent and by lawful means.
When we collect your information you will be told what we will do with it and to whom it may be disclosed.
Information about you will not be used in any way without your consent or other than for the reasons for which it was collected.
Where we have obtained information about you from someone other than yourself, we will take all reasonable steps to inform you about who we are, what we intend to do with your information, how you may access it and to whom it may be disclosed.
In other words where possible we will inform you of what will happen to your information as if we had collected it from you ourselves.
Use and Disclosure
Information about you will only be used or disclosed to others by ACON in ways which meet your expectations or are required by law. We will only use or disclose your personal information for a purpose other than the primary purpose for which it was collected if:
the secondary purpose of collection is related to the primary purpose, and
you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose information for that secondary purpose, or
you have given permission for its use or disclosure
We will only use your information for the purpose of service promotion such as newsletters, pamphlets or fundraising providing you have given us permission to do so.
We will only use or disclose your information without your consent, when:
it is in the interest of an individual’s health, life or safety, or
in the interest of public health or safety, or
we are required or authorised to do so by law
We may disclose health information about you to a person responsible for you such as a legally appointed guardian.
Data Quality
ACON will take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information collected, used or disclosed about you is as appropriate, accurate and as current as possible.
Data Security
ACON undertakes to ensure that all personal information is kept in a secure place or manner. We will take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, unauthorised or unnecessary access, alteration or disclosure. ACON undertakes to destroy or de-identify your personal information when it is no longer required for any purpose by you or by law.
Openness
ACON’s Privacy Policy is available to you or anyone who requests it. Copies of this Policy may be obtained through the contact details provided at the end of this document.
ACON has a complaints procedure for anyone who believes their information is not being handled properly or in accordance with this policy. A copy of ACON’s complaints procedure may also be obtained through the contact details.
Access and Correction
The only staff or volunteers who may access your information can do so only in the performance of their duties in the provision of a service to you or specifically at your request. Staff or volunteers may not divulge any identifying information about you to each other except that, which is necessary for them to do so in the performance of their duties.
ACON will provide you with access to personal information it holds about you upon your request. In some circumstances it may be inappropriate for ACON to comply with your request, such as where someone else’s privacy may be seriously breached, or where the request poses a threat to an individual’s health or safety. In such case, if we withhold access we will provide you with the reason for doing so.
At your request we will correct any out-of-date or inaccurate information. We will do this either over the phone or face-to-face. You may arrange an appointment to view your personal information or you may request a written copy.
To obtain access to, or copies of, or to correct or up-date your personal, sensitive, information you will need to complete a ‘Personal Information Inquiry’ form. To change just your contact details you will need to complete a ‘Change of Address’ form. Copies of both of these forms may be obtained either by telephoning or writing to us or by down-loading them from our web-site.
Our contact details are at the end of this document.
Identifiers
ACON does not use identifiers or reference numbers assigned by other organisations or government departments or services. Nor does ACON assign identifiers or reference to personal information records except where we have obtained your approval to do so, such as membership numbers or client case file numbers.
ACON does not release membership or client case file numbers to other organisations. Nor do we divulge any information that may in any way identify a particular individual to other organisations, or to ACON staff or volunteers.
Anonymity
Wherever practicable and lawful, and if you want to, we will provide you the option of interacting with ACON anonymously.
Transborder Data Flows
ACON will only send your information to a third party in a foreign country with your prior consent or if the information about you has protection substantially similar to the National Privacy Principles outlined in the Act.
Sensitive Information
ACON will not collect sensitive information about you without your consent unless, the collection is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to health or life, or the collection is required by law. ACON in some instances may collect information without an individual’s consent if the person concerned is physically or legally incapable of giving consent. ACON may also collect sensitive information without consent in accordance with rules established by competent health or medical bodies that deal with the obligations of professional confidentiality eg client case notes kept about counselling sessions with professionally recognised psychotherapists or session case notes kept by enhanced care project staff.
Contacts
For any questions about ACON’s Privacy Policy contact our Web Producer by telephone 02 9206 2000, e-mail online@acon.org.au, fax Attn Web Producer (02) 9206 2069.
ACON Sydney – (02) 9206 2000
Northern Rivers – (02) 6622 1555
Hunter/Mid North Coast – (02) 4962 7700
Mid North Coast Outreach – (02) 6584 0943
Illawarra – (02) 4226 1163
The Privacy Commissioner’s web-site contains detailed information on privacy obligations including a copy of the Privacy Act http://www.privacy.gov.au and the Guidelines On Privacy In The Private Health Sector http://www.privacy.gov.au /health/guidelines/index.html#1 set out the standards for collecting, storing, using and disclosing personal information.
Acknowledgement: Use of Progress Pride Flag Design
ACON welcomes the Progress Pride flag
For decades, the Rainbow Flag – consisting of six colours – has been the most commonly-used flag to represent LGBTQ+ communities around the globe. But in more recent times, the Progress Pride Flag has been adopted by a growing number of people and organisations worldwide.
Designed by non-binary artist Daniel Quasar in 2018, the flag includes black and brown stripes to represent people of colour; and pink, pale blue and white stripes to include trans and gender diverse communities.
The increasing use of this flag reflects the broad drive in Australia and around the world to be more inclusive of the expansive breadth of identities within our communities.
As the language and our communities evolves, so do the symbols we use. As such, ACON is proud to use the Progress Pride Flag to ensure that we are an organisation that represents and reflects our unique and diverse communities.
ACON acknowledges Daniel Quasar as the designer of the Progress Pride Flag. We thank them for allowing ACON to use the design as we serve our communities.
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ACON acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands we operate on across NSW.
ACON pays respect to Elders past and present, and we acknowledge Brotherboys, Sistergirls, trans mob and First Nations LGBTQ+ people for their support and guidance in our work.
