ACSO Australia Information

Our vision is for a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, and prison truly is the last resort. Our purpose is to strengthen the wellbeing of communities by advocating for and delivering services which divert people away from the justice system. Our ethos is 'Understand the story. Support the change.' Founded in 1984 on the lived experience of Stan McCormack, the Australian Community Support Organisation (ACSO) has delivered services to help break the cycle of people repeatedly entering the justice system because they lack the support to make change. ACSO works with people at risk of entering or who have already entered the justice system. Our work supports, diverts or reintegrates people through a range of services including mental health, alcohol and other drug treatment, intensive residential support, housing and employment. These services span the entire justice continuum from prevention to rehabilitation. We are collaborators. We understand the linkages of issues and policies and work to connect across government and industry to evolve services, improve equitable access to services and strengthen the evidence base to prevent people from becoming entrenched in the justice system. This will lead to better outcomes for communities across Australia, our clients and government partners. To learn more about our work, visit out website.