ACON (AIDS Council of NSW)

ACON — the AIDS Council of NSW — is Australia's largest LGBTQ+ health organisation and one of the most important community institutions in Sydney's queer history. Founded in 1985 at the height of the AIDS crisis in Australia, ACON was a community response to a health emergency that was devastating Sydney's gay male population while governments moved slowly. The organisation developed innovative harm reduction programmes, peer education, and advocacy that helped Sydney achieve one of the most effective AIDS responses of any city in the world. Today ACON's work extends far beyond its founding crisis: the organisation provides services in sexual health, mental health, LGBTQ+ ageing, trans health, HIV treatment and prevention (including PrEP access programmes), and community wellbeing broadly defined. The Surry Hills headquarters at 414 Elizabeth Street is within walking distance of Oxford Street — a deliberate positioning that keeps the organisation physically proximate to the community it serves. ACON runs the LGBTQ+ health clinic, operates the NSW LGBTQ+ Domestic Violence Helpline, and is a consistent voice in public health policy advocacy. For LGBTQ+ visitors to Sydney who need health services, information, or simply want to understand the institutional backbone of Australia's most significant gay community, ACON is the essential reference point.