Over the decades, ACSO has established its diverse expertise through the provision of innovative services across a number of overlapping sectors, including reintegration, mental health, Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) support, forensic disability, and residential support. So, when Victoria’s Department of Families Fairness and Housing (DFFH) tendered a 12-month pilot for a new service aimed at empowering and supporting people with complex needs, ACSO was a natural fit.
The Assertive Outreach and Support Service (AOS)
In 2023, DFFH launched the pilot Assertive Outreach and Support Service (AOS). AOS met a clear need in the community for services designed to support people with complex and co-occurring needs and would be delivered by ACSO (in Melbourne’s South and East Metropolitan Regions) and ermha365 (in the Northern and Western Metropolitan Regions).
The AOS pilot set in motion a productive collaboration between government and the not-for-profit sector. At the end of the initial 12-month period, it was clear that AOS was both effective and necessary, with DFFH choosing to extend funding for a second, and then a third year, and with ACSO’s AOS services subsequently expanding into the Gippsland region.
With AOS entering its third year of operation, it was clear to all involved that there was interest among other organisations across mental health, disability, forensic services, and housing and homelessness, to engage more around complex needs.
To meet this need, DFFH proposed a conference, drawing on the expertise of ACSO and ermha365, that could provide a platform to broaden and deepen the emerging conversation around complex needs.
The Complex Needs Conference 2025
Building on the relationships established through delivering AOS, ACSO and ermha365 hosted the first Complex Needs Conference in March 2025. The conference was funded by DFFH, supported by Swinburne University of Technology, and focused on bringing different service areas together to explore how they might bridge gaps in service provision.
Through pragmatic leadership, network building, and knowledge sharing, the conference aimed to foster stronger community connections, and improve community safety, mental health, and housing outcomes for people facing challenging times.
Vaughan Winther, CEO of ACSO, put it this way in his keynote address: “We need to recognise that we can’t do this work in isolation. Supporting people with complex needs takes a village, and it’s not only ACSO doing this work; it’s our partners in government and our partners in industry as well.”
Featuring 117 speakers and 71 presentations, the conference was split across three streams:
- Best practice: building interconnected systems.
- Innovative research: what's working and what's next.
- Real stories, real solutions: hear from those who have been there.
Hosted by Jon Faine AM, the conference program also featured keynote addresses from internationally renowned experts Associate Professor Armon Tamatea and Dr Tonia Nicholls. Together, the keynotes and other speakers and presenters explored the programs and policies in Australia that are making a difference for people with complex needs, and what can be done differently.
With tickets sold out, and over 700 people attending across the two days, the Complex Needs Conference 2025 was a success. ACSO continues to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, with attendees and presenters alike speaking to the value of gathering our collective energy behind developing new approaches to supporting people with complex needs.
We hope the relationships established at the Complex Needs Conference can continue to serve this purpose in the years to come.
What’s next?
ACSO’s depth of experience and expertise in delivering impactful services for people with complex needs, particularly those with a forensic background, makes us uniquely capable of supporting some of the most challenging clients.
Through our continued work delivering AOS, as well as through our diverse range of programs spanning reintegration, mental health, AOD, forensic disability, and residential support, ACSO has developed a model of service provision that is uniquely capable of meeting the needs of clients with complex and co-occurring needs.
We continue to seek out opportunities to further expand our service provision to the communities that would benefit most. And we strive to provide leadership and advocacy to improve both awareness and accessibility of services for people with complex needs.
If you want to learn more about complex needs and how our services can adapt to better meet the needs of people in our community, you can email us directly: media@acso.org.au