Campaign reflections: How Australia’s #MeToo movement has failed diverse victim-survivors 27 May 2022
In 2017 the #MeToo movement, founded by American activist Tarana Burke, echoed around the world, creating solidarity amongst thousands of women and gender diverse people. Over the following months, as it began to gain momentum in Australia, journalist Tracey Spicer launched an organisation in line with the movement called NOW Australia. NOW Australia quickly gained […]
Ask Muriel: Calling out ‘faux feminism’ 27 May 2022
In this edition of Action Matters, we answer the question: How do I call out ‘faux feminism’ when I see it? It’s highly likely that if you’re engaged in feminist discussions, or tapped into politically progressive circles, you’ll come across people unscrupulously appropriating feminist ideology and rhetoric to gain credibility, without meaningfully engaging with gender […]
Advocacy 101: Faux or feminist? How to tell? 27 May 2022
Faux or feminist? How to tell? The transcendence of the corporate juggernaut-turned-woke public advocate and the blending of branded feminism and International Women’s Day, has meant that feminism has become highly bankable and subsequently, ubiquitous. Not just a vessel for profit, feminist marketing and band-wagoning can also obscure regressive opinions or policies. In fact, the […]
Advocate spotlight: Tarana Burke 27 May 2022
Tarana Burke is an activist, community organiser, executive, and most notably the founder and architect of the global #MeToo movement. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Tarana has a long-standing history of advocating for women’s rights, specifically women of colour and survivors of sexual violence. As a survivor herself, Tarana spent much of […]
Hustle culture and corporate feminism 27 May 2022
The motivation to develop a personal brand in a time of the influencer is a powerful force and can often accompany feminist-inspired social change. But can this change be considered authentic? And should it attract widespread support if its foundations are anti-feminist or laden with a tangible sense of white saviour complex? In this edition […]
Gimmicks: perfect marketing to hide a bad idea? 23 March 2022
Campaigning, advocacy, and philanthropy, by their very nature, demand a certain degree of innovation. If we want our cause to have reach and attract attention, creativity and a level of marketing are fundamental. Politically speaking, while short messaging devoid of nuance or policy detail tends to be met with derision by the Insiders crowd, there’s […]
Advocate spotlight: Debbie Kilroy 23 March 2022
Debbie Kilroy OAM is an Australian human rights activist, prison abolitionist, keynote speaker and the only convicted drug trafficker in Australia to be admitted as an Australian lawyer and a Council member on the Queensland’s Sentencing Advisory Council. As a former prisoner, Debbie understands firsthand what it is like to go through the Australian judicial […]
Ask Muriel: mentoring for an advocacy career 23 March 2022
Holly Bollz on Instagram asked: “Are there any organisations that facilitate mentoring if you want to step into a formal advocacy role?” Thanks for your question! Mentoring, given its very nature, is something that does not necessarily come with formal arrangements as our greatest mentors are often friends, family, and others we admire in their […]
Advocacy 101: The division of powers: where to start? 23 March 2022
Knowing where to turn to and identifying what policy portfolio or what level of government you need to approach when beginning your advocacy journey can be a difficult first challenge. Having worked in the Legislative Assembly, it wasn’t unusual for members of the public to contact the wrong representative at the wrong level of government […]
Wins and reflections: The YES Equality campaign for marriage equality 23 March 2022
After 13 years of campaigning for marriage equality, the 2017 postal survey took a lot of people by surprise. But although those advocating for marriage equality didn’t have much time to pull a campaign together, they were successful, with 62 per cent of respondents voting ‘Yes’. The YES Equality movement by Equality Campaign had a […]