• ACON history in the area
• Info about the area
• More info

ACON history in the area

ACON opened its Northern Rivers office in Lismore as the AIDS Council of NSW in 1989. A local community board oversaw the management of the branch. Together with ACON Northern Rivers staff, a large number of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community members were involved in helping support gay men across the region living with HIV/AIDS. At the time HIV was restricted almost entirely to gay men and there was no treatment in sight.

ACON’s work focused on HIV prevention, caring for people as they became sick, or as they need pallatative care and on supporting family and friends. Over time, and most particularly after the advent of antretroviral treatments in 1996, our programs changed from a focus on caring for people dying from AIDS related illnesses to supporting people living with HIV.

In 2000, after a consultation process, the AIDS Council of NSW became ‘ACON’ and we began to describe ourselves as a health promotion organisation based in the GLBT community with a central focus on HIV/AIDS. A local PLWHA Consultative Committee was established as a partnership between ACON and the North Coast Area Health Service to enable positive people to have a say about services. The Northern Rivers office began to provide a wide range of GLBT health promotion and HIV/STI prevention, education and health promotion activities and services, as well as maintaining a volunteer program. In addition to a client services officer working with people living with or affected by HIV, gay men’s education and lesbian health staff were employed.

In 2006, the Northern Rivers office established its HIV Health Maintenance program, offering one-on-one HIV health information, contributing to printed and web-based resources and providing access to peer support, group educational activities and forums and culturally aware service providers. 

 
Info about the area

The Northern Rivers region is a 20,895 square kilometre area of NSW’s north coast and hinterland and is home to approximately 280,000 people.  Major centres in the Northern Rivers include:

• Ballina
• Casino
• Grafton
• Lismore
• Tweed Heads

It's home to a large population of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and approxiamately 400 HIV positive people reside in this area. Northern Rivers enjoys a sub-tropical climate and many people are attracted here because of the warm climate and relaxed lifestyle.

Local Councils Ballina area: www.ballina.nsw.gov.au Casino area: www.richmondvalley.nsw.gov.au Grafton area: www.clarence.nsw.gov.au Byron Bay area: www.byron.nsw.gov.au Kyogle area: www.kyogle.nsw.gov.au Lismore area: www.lismore.nsw.gov.au Tweed area: www.tweed.nsw.gov.au

Local Tourism Offices Tweed: www.tweedtourism.com.au Byron Bay: www.visitbyronbay.com Lismore: www.visitlismore.com.au Richmond Valley (including Casino & Evans Head): www.richmondvalley.nsw.gov.au Clarence Valley: www.clarencetourism.com Ballina: www.discoverballina.com Kyogle: tourism.kyogle.nsw.gov.au

More info

Contact: ACON Northern Rivers

Tel: (02) 6622 1555
Freecall: 1800 633 637

Email: northernrivers@acon.org.au