What Every Parent Needs to Know about ACON
1. Background
ACON is Australia’s largest LGB and transgender advocacy organisation. Once a terrific organisation assisting in the AIDS crisis, it has changed direction to be a transgender activist group.
ACON had numerous proxy alliances that do the same work under different names. These include Transcend, Minus18 and Headspace. Vital detail for parents can be seen HERE.
It has numerous workplace projects under their ‘Pride in Diversity’ banner. One of these projects is the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI). This is where businesses or organisations join up in order to advocate for ACON policies and receive awards for doing so.
Being a member of AWEI influences staff recruitment and workplace culture. It therefore influences what schools teach to Australian students.
Education Departments compete and earn a high score on the AWEI by accumulating points across a strict, evidence-based rubric.
In the classroom or school environment, this can include:
* Teachers placing Pride flags on the classroom walls
* Schools and pre-schools flying the Pride flag
* Contentious Gender Education taught either by the teacher or an external provider
* School participation in Pride marches and events
ACON evaluates submissions based on a maximum pool of points, requiring large employers like NSW DET, Queensland Department of Education or Education Victoria to achieve Gold status, which then paves the way to Platinum.
2. The NSW Department of Education
NSW Department of Education is a Silver Member. Murat Dizdar, the 2025 CEO, won ACON’s 2025 CEO of the Year.
The NSW Department are very open about their connection with ACON and parents can easily Google their alliance and influence.
The recruitment policy openly welcomes trans and gender diverse applicants.
The recruitrment blurb also states “We create environments where our employees can proudly bring their true selves to work.”
However, if your true self in any way questions or opposes trans and non-binary beliefs, you would probably not be a preferred candidate. just click HERE.
3. Department of Education Queensland
Department of Education Queensland is a Platinum Employer. This means they have been awarded Platinum Status through their actions supporting ACON’s policies. You can read exactly what they do HERE.
Included in the Department’s aims is to “Expand whole-of-department participation in key LGBTQ+ events such as IDAHOBIT, Wear it Purple Day and Pride – with a focus on communications in schools and across regions.“
Did parents or guardians ask for this?
4. Department of Education Victoria
We’ve been told by an ACON insider that the Victorian Department of Education is a Bronze tier employer in ACON’s Pride in Diversity program yet opts for ‘not-for-publication’ status with ACON. Only an expensive FOI request would confirm this.
Victoria Dept of Education is the only education entity in Australia still running the discredited ‘Safe Schools’ program. This program is banned in other states. See HERE.
5. How all Departments are rated
To score highly, Education Departments cannot simply claim they are inclusive; they must provide audited physical evidence, data, and policy documentation across several distinct areas:
1. Hard HR Policies & Lifecycles
- Gender-Neutral Language: Documenting that all parental leave, bereavement, and uniform policies use gender-neutral phrasing.
- Transgender Support: Proving the existence of explicit, operational policies and paid leave frameworks supporting employees undergoing gender affirmation.
- Discrimination Frameworks: Demonstrating clear, accessible reporting pathways for LGBTQ+ specific bullying or harassment.
2. Strategy & Executive Accountability
- Executive Sponsors: Providing evidence that senior leaders (such as CEOs, HR Heads or Board members) actively sponsor internal pride initiatives, speak at events, and hold accountability for diversity targets.
- Strategic Alignment: Showing that LGBTQ+ inclusion targets are embedded directly into the organisation’s multi-year corporate strategy, rather than treated as an afterthought.
3. Data Collection & Employee Voice
- The AWEI Employee Survey: Participating in ACON’s anonymous, national AWEI Employee Survey. High scores require a strong response rate and data proving that staff genuinely feel safe and included at work.
- Internal Demographics: Showing that the organization safely collects and tracks voluntary diversity metrics to identify any career progression barriers.
4. Training & Internal Capability
- Formal Education: Tracking and submitting completion rates for mandatory LGBTQ+ awareness and ally training across general staff and management.
- Active Ally Networks: Proving that the internal employee network (like SBS’s “Pride & Allies” group) is well-funded, meets regularly, and actively drives internal culture.
5. External Visibility & Community Impact
- Supplier Diversity: Demonstrating that the company actively prefers or audits its supply chain for LGBTQ+ inclusive vendors.
- Public Advocacy: Participating in, hosting, or sponsoring community events (like the Australian LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards or Mardi Gras) to champion inclusion outside their own walls.
ACON’s non-disclosure
Not-For-Publication Employers
All participating organisations submitting to the AWEI have the option of not being publicly listed within Award Tiers or the AWEI publication. We believe that it is important to allow all employers this option to encourage participation no matter their starting point. Employers can nominate at which tier they are happy to be acknowledged within their AWEI Submission document(s). If an organisation wishes to participate anonymously, their results are incorporated within the benchmarking data but names are withheld for privacy.
