FAQs

“ACCO” is the acronym for Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation.

According to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, an ACCO:

• delivers services, including land and resource management, to build the strength and empowerment of Aboriginal communities and people
• is incorporated under relevant legislation and is not-for-profit
• is controlled and operated by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• is connected to the community in which services are delivered
• is governed by a majority Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander governing body

If you are unsure if your organisation is an ACCO, feel free to email contact@saaccon.org.au to ask about it.

The South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network (SAACCON) is a representative body made up of South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and peak bodies. You can read more about SAACCON via their website.

If your organisation is an ACCO, and provides a service of kind to community, SAACCON would love to hear from you! Please email contact@saaccon.org.au and SAACCON be in touch.

The 2021-22 South Australian Indigenous Expenditure Report fulfilled the South Australian Government's commitment under Clause 113 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap: “to review and identify current spending on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs and services to identify reprioritisation opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, particularly to community-controlled organisations”.

This consultation will, subsequently, help us to identify and formally establish ways to sustainably increase the amount of funding awarded to the ACCO sector, in order to meet the needs of Aboriginal peoples and their communities.

Workshops will be held over one day and will occur in multiple locations across the state during late March, April and May of 2024.

Dates and locations for the workshops are as follows (information will be updated as details are finalised):

Past:

• Metropolitan Adelaide (1): 9am - 5pm, Tuesday 26 March 2024 at Tauondi Aboriginal College

Confirmed upcoming:

• Metropolitan Adelaide (2): 9am - 5pm, Friday 5 April 2024 at Tauondi Aboriginal College
• Port Augusta: 9am - 5pm, Thursday 11 April 2024 at Port Augusta Central Oval
• Ceduna: 9am - 5pm, Friday 19 April 2024 at Ceduna Memorial Hall
• Berri: 9am - 5pm, Friday 3 May 2024 at Berri Town Hall

To be confirmed:

• Umuwa: 1 one-day workshop to be held between 22-26 April 2024

If you are interested in attending a workshop but are unsure about your availability to do so, still register to attend and we will be in touch!

Some ACCOs may have recently (in late 2023) participated in a consultation run by Procurement Services SA (PSSA) for the purpose of reviewing and updating the South Australian Funding Policy for the Not-for-Profit Sector (the NFP Funding Policy). The aim of this policy is to support and strengthen collaborative partnerships between government and the NFP sector, by improving consistency and setting clear requirements for government to reduce the administrative burden on NFPs and enable them to maintain their independence.

As NFP organisations, this policy applies to ACCOs, and the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations Network (SAACCON) holds membership on the NFP Advisory Committee that is guiding this work.

Through the consultation process, participants identified 436 issues and barriers in the areas of complexity, trust, adequacy of funding, resourcing, consistency and ethical and social impact, along with 525 proposed solutions to address them. This feedback is being collated and will form the basis for recommendations to government.

Funding, contracting and commissioning are important considerations under Priority Reform Two of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and understanding ACCO’s experiences and perspectives in these areas is integral to the outcomes of the Growing the ACCO Sector engagement.

However, your time is important, and you may have already contributed significant insight in these areas for the review of the NFP Funding Policy. As such, the Growing the ACCO Sector consultation will, instead, focus on the current state and strengths of the ACCO sector, the sector’s ambitions for future work and partnerships, and opportunities and challenges to the growth and sustainability of the sector.

We acknowledge, however, that not all ACCOs will have had the chance to provide input to review of the NFP Funding Policy. So, whilst we have limited the focus of the Growing the ACCO Sector consultation, if you have experiences and insights related to funding, contracting and commissioning that you would like to contribute, please do so.