Our people are the key to our success!
At ACSO, we recognise the right to a safe and inclusive service without bias, and we are committed to the fair treatment of our participants, employees, and partners. We value diversity and believe it contributes to our strength as an organisation. Through leadership, collaboration, practice, and policy design, we celebrate the diverse voices of our community and embrace the traditions, cultures, and experiences of those we support and work alongside.
ACSO strives to ensure the continued health and wellbeing of our people, and we adapt to feedback on what would make ACSO a better place to work. With the help of our workplace health and safety team and representatives throughout all areas of the organisation, we provide a happy, healthy, and safe work environment.
What do our people think about working at ACSO? We conduct an annual engagement survey to hear from our employees. In 2025, 85% of our employees participated in the survey, and we received an organisation wide engagement score of 74% (up from 71% in 2024). We listen to our employees through a variety of channels throughout the year and are continuously aiming to improve our engagement score through new initiatives that positively impact our employees’ experience at ACSO.
Employee Testimonials
Here is what some of our employees have to say about working with us!
“I’ve worked at ACSO for coming up on three years, across different mental health teams – the best thing by far about working with ACSO is the amazing Team Leaders. The TL’s I’ve worked with have been incredibly supportive, encouraging and genuinely interested in making sure the team is well looked after and reaching our goals. I’ve also really appreciated the emphasis they place on maintaining a work/life balance. ,Doing mental health/AOD work can be a lot sometimes, but I feel very comfortable putting those self-care boundaries in place with such understanding TL’s. The second-best thing is working with the clients – no two days are the same. I’ve met some incredibly inspiring and resilient characters who all have unique stories to tell. Working alongside the clients to achieve great outcomes in a supportive environment is extremely rewarding.”
Hannah-Mae, Mental Health Program
“I’m very proud to be working at ACSO as it’s such a great organisation that has the right values. Working in the residential houses allows me to work with the residents directly and consistently in supporting them to achieve their goals and make positive changes in their lives. ACSO also provides many opportunities in further skills-building and is also very flexible, which allows me to be able to study as well as work.”
Mary, Residential Services Program
Employee Benefits
ACSO provides a range of employment benefits over and above industry and legislative standards not only to recognise the hard work of our employees but because we understand that an attractive employment package can be so much more than a competitive base salary.
Work-life balance
At ACSO, we know that people have different personal commitments and that everyone’s situation is unique.
In providing for a sustainable work-life balance, we do our best to accommodate each person’s specific needs and promote a flexible work environment. This can include:
- Casual, part-time, and full-time roles
- Options to accrue extra days off or work compressed hours
- Hybrid work models, allowing employees to work both from home and ACSO hubs
- Working closer to home, from ten hub locations across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland
- For shift workers, flexible shifts across day shifts (typically 7am–4pm) and sleepover shifts (typically 3:30pm–7:30am, including a sleepover component from 11pm–7am) from Monday to Sunday.
At ACSO, we are also continually engaged in developing new wellbeing, rewards, and recognition initiatives that will support employees to reach both professional and personal goals.
If you choose to work from home as part of our hybrid model, ACSO will provide you with a laptop, and you’ll bring the other essentials (such as a monitor, chair, desk, and keyboard/mouse) to create a safe and productive workspace that works for you.
Salary Packaging
ACSO is recognised as a not-for-profit (NFP) organisation by Australian Tax Office (ATO). This allows us to provide competitive salary packaging options not available to the private sector.
ACSO employees can salary package up to $15,900 of their pre-tax income each year for general living expenses (valid items like rent, mortgages, school fees) and a further $2,650 for entertainment benefits (meals, venue hire, accommodation). On average, salary packaging saves our employees $5,500 each year, effectively increasing base salaries by $5,500.
Our employees also have access to novated leasing of cars and mortgage reviews through our providers AccessPay and Credo, to help with effective management of finances.
Leave
ACSO offers employees a range of generous leave options. These include:
- 14 weeks paid parental leave accessible to primary carers after six months of employment (or 2 weeks for secondary carers)
- Cultural and ceremonial leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
- Gender affirmation leave for Transgender and Gender Diverse employees
- Up to four hours' paid study leave per week for employees undertaking study in line with their current role
- 20 days of annual leave, or 25 days for shift workers, with options to purchase an additional 2–4 weeks of annual leave each year
- One day of foundation leave per year, celebrating ACSO’s founding
- Leave for illness, caring responsibilities, and those experiencing domestic violence
- Additionally, ACSO employees receive 17.5% annual leave loading, meaning an extra 17.5% remuneration to spend while on leave. (Please note some conditions apply for employees engaged in shift work.)
Personal Development
We want you to grow with us at ACSO!
ACSO supports employees to develop skills and achieve their career goals through a range of career development opportunities, including:
- A dedicated learning and development team devoted to supporting employees to learn and grow while working at ACSO
- Internal mentoring programs focused on establishing mentoring relationships that support professional growth and development for all participants
- Regular supervision by direct leaders
- Annual performance development plans for every employee
- An individualised and comprehensive leadership development program
- Support for employees to move between roles at ACSO, encouraging ongoing learning.
Rewards and Recognition
ACSO’s employees do a brilliant job, going the extra mile to support both clients and one another, so it’s important we continue to recognise their essential work.
ACSO maintains a range of initiatives that celebrate excellence and empathy, including employee referral bonuses, appreciation walls, thank you cards, monetary gift cards, service recognition, and employee awards.
Employee Awards
Each year, ACSO holds an Employee Awards ceremony to recognise employees who have gone above and beyond, demonstrating their commitment to our organisation’s values (passion, belief in humanity, integrity in all we do, and innovative spirit). Employees throughout ACSO nominate one another for the awards, which include two scholarships to support learning and development, including international study.
Wellness and Wellbeing
As part of our Employee Assistance program, ACSO partners with Converge International to provide free and confidential support to employees 24/7.
These services span counselling, coaching, and support services for workplace and personal issues. In addition to personal counselling, employees can access seven topic streams including family, career, money, lifestyle, conflict, and manager assist.
This is a free and confidential service to our employees, their family members, and our volunteers. Each employee receives up to five free sessions per topic.
Find out more about Converge International and their specialist helplines.
Equity and Inclusion
ACSO is committed to attracting and retaining quality people through inclusive and supportive policies.
We offer Access and Inclusion Leave, including five days of paid Cultural and Ceremonial Leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, 14 weeks of parental leave, and gender affirmation leave for non-cisgender employees. Employees can also request to exchange public holidays to better reflect their values and beliefs. (For example, many employees choose to exchange 26 January for 13 February, National Apology Anniversary.)
ACSO is committed to the equitable treatment of its participants, employees, and partners.
Free Flu Vaccinations
We all get unwell from time to time, but it is important ACSO supports employees wherever possible. For this reason, ACSO is proud to offer all employees free annual flu vaccinations.
