Our Work With Aboriginal People

We’re here to help improve the sexual health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, sistergirl/transgender or living with HIV. We do this by providing culturally sensitive HIV and sexual health education, including:

• HIV and STI education campaigns targeting Aboriginal people including our Aboriginal gay men’s HIV testing campaign
• Arts-based community development activities in partnership with Aboriginal Community organisations
• Outreach at selected community events such as NAIDOC Week events
• Partnership activities with Aboriginal health organisation such as the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW
• Support for NSW Aboriginal Sexual Health Workers

For more information, please contact us here, via (02) 9206 2024 or our Facebook page.

Cancer

We’re here to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people take steps to prevent their risk of cancer and find support after diagnosis and treatment.

To find out more please visit the ‘Cancer’ section on our website or visit ACON’s Can We website.

HIV in the NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population Paper

In 2019 we launched a policy paper to highlight the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in relation to HIV and sexual health. Titled HIV in the NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, the paper outlines key issues and sets out recommendations to improve health outcomes.

You can downloaded the paper here.

Community Outreach

We get out and about as much as possible to relevant community events, especially those where we can have contact with gay men, sistergirls and people with HIV. We aim wherever possible to partner with Aboriginal community organisations to do this. Our community outreach activities include:

• Gadigal Information Service’s Mardi Gras season Klub Koori
• Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative’s Mardi Gras season show
• World AIDS Day events at the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern

If you have an idea for outreach or would like to volunteer to help, please contact us here or via (02) 9206 2024.

ACON’s Deadly Trivia Night

By popular demand, it’s time to Q & SLAY again at ACON’s Deadly Trivia Night!

A sell-out success when it premiered last year, this night of laughs is a great opportunity to test your knowledge, win great prizes, connect with community and have camp effervescent fun.

Your hosts are comedian Steph Tisdell and Jinny-Jane Smith, and there’ll be very special shows by Sistergirl star Felicia Foxx!

Gather your friends, bring your colleagues, round up your crew on Tuesday 3 June at The Beresford in Surry Hills for a night of quiz-tastic, brain-teasing goodness.

Our range of questions and games will engage and challenge, and there are fabulous team and individual prizes to be won!

This event is open to everyone (18+): Mob, friends, allies and supporters all welcome!

This event is held to mark National Reconciliation Week 2025 and is a fundraiser to support ACON’s First Nations Health Project.

See you there! Single, double or group bookings are all very welcome.

ACON’S DEADLY TRIVIA NIGHT

Tuesday 3 June 2025 – Doors open 6pm

Upstairs at the Beresford, 354 Bourke Street, Surry Hills

General Tickets $20 / Mob Tix $15

Proceeds support ACON’s First Nations Health Project.

Please note: This event contains adult themes. It is strictly for those aged 18+. There are flashing lights and music throughout.

To join this event, please book tickets here!

Performance and Creative Arts

First Australians and Mardi Gras

Each year we help organise the First Nations float in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. Participants gather at two community meetings to work together to design the parade entry, developing new skills and creating activities the whole community can enjoy.

This culminates in the Mardi Gras Parade, raising awareness and visibility of sexual and gender diversity in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Planning for the performance and creative arts program begins in October. For more information or to get involved, please contact us: jstrang@acon.org.au | (02) 9206 2042

Creative Arts Workshops

From time to time we also offer activities such as music or photography as a way for community members to express themselves, tell stories, learn new skills, meet new people and celebrate culture.

If you have any suggestions for activities, or would like to register your interest, please contact us here or via (02) 9206 2024.

Stay in Touch

We communicate regularly with the community via our Facebook page. Please like our page to stay in touch with all our events and news about our services.

For more information, you can also contact us here or via (02) 9206 2024.

‘Us Mob and HIV’ Resource

Better to Know

‘Better to Know’ is a sexual health website for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including information on STIs, the ability to search for local clinics and AMSs for testing, a partner notification service and a testing reminder service.

The site has been produced by the Anwernekenhe National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV/AIDS Alliance and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations.

Access the site here

ACON Reconciliation Action Plans

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.

Access a public copy of ACON’s Innovate RAP 2023-2025 as a PDF here.

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.

If you have any feedback or would like to join the RAP Working Group, please fill out this short form or contact RAP@acon.org.au

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 Statement on its First Nations Listening and Truth Telling Project and Our Pathway Forward Following the Referendum

ACON has released a statement announcing the beginning of its First Nations Listening and Truth Telling Project as a pathway forward, towards reconciliation, following the outcome of the referendum on a Voice to parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  

This project is designed to instil a culture of meaningful listening within our organisation, in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities feel their voices are being heard, and that their needs are being prioritised. 

ACON will be taking time to meaningfully consider our role in the process of reconciliation, and the actions we need to take, to further this objective. We know that reconciliation can only proceed when we are ready to accept the truth of our history. Our First Nations Listening and Truth Telling Project will help us to clearly identify ACON’s ongoing role working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of diverse sexualities and genders to achieve better health outcomes for these communities. 

Download our full statement here.

ACON’s approach to the referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

ACON has released its approach to the referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

This approach is informed by consultations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of ACON’s Reconciliation Action Plan working group and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ACON staff, and is guided by our firm belief in First Nations’ self-determination and that First Nations people’s voices and truths should inform all Australian policy that affects them.

The approach outlines our commitments to First Nations LGBTQ+ communities, now, and ongoing after the referendum. 

Download the Approach document here

Pride in Diversity Report: LGBTQASB+ Mob and Work

First Nations LGBTQA+ people, sistergirls and brotherboys, are critical parts of our community at large. Their contribution to social justice, culture, social and family life is undeniable and significant. All of this is work.

There has, however, been limited research attention given to LGBTQASB+ mob’s contribution to and experience within the formal paid workforce. Building this knowledge is critical. Access to safe and just workplaces contributes directly to how LGBTQSB+1 mob survive and sustain themselves, their families and their communities.

Two large surveys have measured equity in workplaces for LGBTQA+ and Indigenous communities – the Jumbunna Institute and Diversity Council of Australia’s Gari Yala survey (of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at work) and Pride in Diversity’s Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) Employee Survey. The gap in the data risks misunderstandings and inattention to how First Nations LGBTQASB+ people experience the formal paid workforce. It also risks how the employment community approaches them – from union campaigns and bargaining, to workplace supports, to initiatives promoting diversity, equity and justice within the formal paid workforce. It is not enough that workplaces understand the experiences of LGBTQA+ people and First Nations people separately.

This project came from discussions between ACON’s Pride in Diversity and the Indigenous People and Work Hub at the UTS Jumbunna Institute (Research), led by Professor Nareen Young and was then lead and executed by First Nations LGBTQASB+ mob. We note that it addresses long-held discussions within our community about the safety of workplaces and the material living conditions of LGBTQASB+ mob.

Download the full publication here.