How a Lobby Group has subverted our media, public institutions and Governments to garner unprecedented influence over public policy, media reporting guidelines and the very language we speak.
See Also: Pride in Diversity | Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) | Pride in Diversity Member List – 2022
Who is ACON and why do you need to know?
ACON is Australia’s HIV/AIDS charity receiving over $17 million annually in government funding.
ACON (AIDS Council of NSW) was established in 1985 to respond to the HIV / AIDS epidemic and took on the responsibility of representing the interests of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) Community. The work they did and their success in advocating for the LGB Community during this time played a pivotal role in de-stigmatising the health epidemic and those impacted by it. They championed the social response to the AIDS crisis. Some of ACON’s programs continue with this important work.
Since then, ACON has shifted its focus, linking its representation of the LGB community with advocacy for “transgender”, and “gender diverse” people. This linkage is now questioned and rejected by many in the LGB community.
With substantial and increasing public funding, ACON has become Australia’s largest LGBTQI+ charity, and is currently receiving over $17 million in government funding per year. With its focus now on the gender identity ideology movement, it has successfully introduced concepts of Queer Theory into Australian public bodies including the media and education departments, and these concepts are increasingly being enshrined in school curriculums and legislature in a manner that is undermining and replacing women’s and girl’s sex-based rights. This work has also served to act against the interests of the LGB communities ACON is funded to represent.
How has ACON established such influence?
Here we expose how ACON, a heavily funded lobby group, has succeeded in securing a unique position of influence and control within our public sector and media whilst stifling both public debate and access to information.
Leaderboard Scheme
Introduced in 2010, ACON’s Pride in Diversity membership program and its Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) benchmark scheme are two powerful tools that are used to influence policy development and direct change within both the public and private sectors.
ACON’s Pride In Diversity Program is a national program designed to train and assist employers to develop policies and implement organisational change that ACON says is required to ensure “LGBTI workplace inclusion”.
ACON’s Australian Workplace Equality Index Benchmark scheme is described as “the definitive national benchmark on LGBTQ workplace inclusion”. It comprises a national employee survey on organisational culture, setting a benchmark against which Australian organisations are measured based on their implementation of ACON approved policy content. It claims to drive “best practise” employment.
With hundreds of organisations signing up to be identified and awarded for their compliance by ACON, we can see a deep influence has developed that is not enjoyed by any other lobby group. See here the list of government organisations currently enlisted in ACON’s programs, and what they pay.
Influence Over Publicly-funded Media
As members of ACON’s Pride in Diversity Scheme, both the ABC and SBS pay ACON for membership and dedicate significant resources to promoting ACON’s agenda across the media. Without any public consultation or knowledge, our publicly-funded media pays for the privilege of being the mouthpiece for a lobby group that cannot claim to represent the views of the Australian public.
Additionally, Channel 10 is also a member of Pride in Diversity and a participant in the AWEI.
Influence Over Government Decisions
Find out how the Pride in Diversity is structured and how the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) is used to change culture and generate compliance with ACON’s agenda.
Value for Money?
While submitting to ACON’s AWEI is nominally free, it is actually an expensive undertaking.
One line item recommends membership in the Pride in Diversity Scheme, at a cost of $6,600 p.a., another suggests training courses be purchased for several thousands of dollars. This is apart from the time and effort spent by staff, changing policies, donating monies, and capital building works needed to comply with the terms of the the AWEI.
Enormous resources are quietly invested across the government on implementing ACON’s agenda. In the UK, many government agencies have exited the similar Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme citing value for money as a reason for leaving.
