Austin is a founding member of the Independent Victims and Survivors Coalition and is a campaigner for a Post Conflict Truth Commission in Ireland. He is a recognised expert in the area of Victims of Terrorism and was a member of the EU Commission Radicalisation Awareness Network working group for Victims of Terrorism. He is a member of the Global Advisory Council of Restorative Justice International.
He is the son of Brian Stack, the Chief Prison Officer in Portlaoise prison, who was shot and fatally wounded by the IRA in 1983. Faced with constant denials by IRA and Sinn Féin, and a lack of progress in the police investigation, Austin opened a line of communication with the Sinn Féin leadership. Using Restorative principals and after many meetings, Austin and his brother Oliver where taken in a blacked out van to a secret location in August 2013 to meet with the IRA leadership. At this meeting the IRA finally admitted to his father’s murder but sought to evade full responsibility by claiming the murder wasn’t sanctioned by their Army Council.
He is a frequent media contributor both in Ireland and the UK in relation to victims, truth and conflict resolution issues. He has also presented papers at parliamentary committees and many international conferences in which he details the process that he went through and also how he dealt healing following the murder of his Dad.
Austin spent 33 years in the Irish prison Service and retired an Assistant Governor, he is also a community activist and voluntary board member of several community organisations working with disadvantaged young people. He holds an MSc in Environmental Health and safety, a BSc (Hons) in Social Policy and Criminology, is a trained Restorative Justice facilitator.
His memoir about his father, Brian Stack, will be published in 2025.