annual report 2008-09

ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Message from the Chair
Rather than simply deal with the consequences of
violence through our police, courts, hospitals and
refuges, we must seek to prevent violence occurring
in the first place. And to do this, we need to engage all
members of our community in changing the attitudes and
behaviours that perpetuate violence against women.
In our first year operating as a foundation we have made
significant headway in positioning the White Ribbon as
the national symbol of the positive role that men and
boys can play in bringing an end to violence against
women. And the reach of our work has expanded well
beyond our initial expectations.
Welcome to the first Annual Report of the White Ribbon
Foundation. We have come such a long way so quickly,
from a small group of dedicated volunteers raising
awareness in 2003, to a sustainable foundation with a
national presence building networks and infrastructure
to ensure that the campaign to end violence against
women will continue well into the future.
This growth has been largely due to the community’s
recognition that if we, as a society, are to reduce the existing levels and devastating impact of violence against
women, then primary prevention strategies, such as the
White Ribbon Campaign, need to grow exponentially.
By June 2009, over 550 Australian men had become
White Ribbon Ambassadors, signing a personal pledge
never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence
against women. These men are at the forefront of our
efforts to drive positive social change around the issue,
with many Ambassadors volunteering to speak in
schools and at community events over the past year.
In 2008, we commissioned a report by Dr Michael Flood
and Lara Fergus which explored the impact of violence
on young people and their relationships. This report recommended practical actions for the primary prevention
of violence against women and girls at national, state
and community levels, as well as further actions which
reflect White Ribbon’s emphasis on engaging men and
boys in positive roles. It was a major driver of public
discussion about the issue of violence and youth.
ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Message from the Chair (continued)
In early 2009, with the financial support of Suzanne Grae,
and in partnership with the NSW Department of Education, we piloted a program with male school Principals
which a) develops their understanding of the attitudes
and behaviours that underpin violence against women,
and b) explores, captures and develops their ideas for
tackling the problem in the school setting. A second
phase of the pilot will be launched in early 2010.
An evaluation of the program will be undertaken by
La Trobe University, to be made available in 2011.
International
In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared
November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) and the White Ribbon
has become the symbol for the day.
This year we introduced the White Ribbon Wristband as
a merchandise item in addition to the White Ribbons.
The wristbands have been extremely well received
especially by younger males. We look forward to having
an even wider distribution and public wearing of these
items in the years to come.
In consultation with our supporters and experts in the
area, we have also come to some important understandings about this type of campaign. We know, for example,
that in order for the campaign to truly take shape and
make an impact, we need to have communities owning
it in ways that are locally or personally relevant. We
have had community events and activities happening all
around the country, involving councils, unions,
professions, armed services, clubs, volunteer groups and
individuals, and we thank all those that are leading the
way in this area. The breadth of support is inspiring.
Over 50 nations now participate in White Ribbon Day, and
there are White Ribbon organisations across the globe
raising awareness and engaging men in the challenge to
end violence against women.
The White Ribbon Foundation of Australia is an independent entity, but works closely with other White Ribbon
campaigns internationally to the same values.
Our work would not be possible without the selfless
service of many: Ambassadors, volunteers, donors,
funding partners, pro bono champions, our staff and
management team, and our Board of Directors. To each
of you, my sincere and warm thanks for your contribution
to making Australia a safer place for the women and
girls, and a place more worthy of everyone’s pride.
Andrew O’Keefe
Chairman
The White Ribbon Foundation
VALUES AND OBJECTIVES
The major strategies to achieve this are through education and awareness-raising, with a focus on male leadership
programmes aimed at men and boys around Australia.
All funds received by the White Ribbon Foundation support the implementation of these strategies.
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
HISTORY OF THE CAMPAIGN
White Ribbon Day was created by a handful of Canadian
men in 1991 on the second anniversary of one man’s
massacre of 14 female engineering students in Montreal.
They began the White Ribbon Campaign to urge men to
speak out against violence against women.
From 2000, the Commonwealth Government Office for
Women ran awareness activities on IDEVAW, and in 2003,
the Australian branch of the United Nations Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM) began a partnership with men
and men’s organisations to make this a national campaign.
In 2007, UNIFEM established the White Ribbon Foundation to allow for the campaign to grow and, by 2008-09,
the White Ribbon Campaign included an annual program
encouraging and resourcing community events across
Australia, a rapidly expanding corpos of White Ribbon
Ambassadors, a number of commited corporations
working closely as partners to the Campaign and an
annual high profile White Tie Dinner in Sydney.
Ambassador Program
White Ribbon Ambassadors are men who take the White
Ribbon Oath to never commit, excuse or remain silent
about violence against women and take an active role in
ending violence against women. Our Ambassadors are
positive community role models and work to engage
others in this issue. The White Ribbon campaign would
not be possible without the fantastic work of these men.
By June 2009, the program had grown to include over 550
men as White Ribbon Ambassadors, including high-profile
politicians, sportsmen, policemen and media personalities
as well as large numbers of men working in local community organisations and small businesses.
Ambassadors also spoke publicly to expand awareness of
the campaign and of the importance of individual participation. White Ribbon Ambassadors spoke at 37 schools,
initiating the Foundation aim to support schools in helping
young people to become aware of the issue, and about 45
Ambassadors spoke about the campaign at White Ribbon
events, with the media, and at other times throughout the
year on behalf of the Campaign.
A number of resources to assist Ambassadors were
developed and publiched, including public speaking kits
and speaking notes; a general PowerPoint presentation
and fact sheets about violence against women in
Australia and about the importance of primary prevention.
The growing number of Ambassadors require increasing
capacity to provide support to individual Ambassador and
to connect Ambassadors to schools and community
events as these requests increased. The Foundation
expanded its small staff team to provide a position
dedicated to the Ambassador program and was able to
establis regular Ambassador newsletter and information
bulletins. Planning began to expand support to Ambassadors through national, state and territory networks linking
Ambassadors and providing them with specific assistance
and information.
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Research and Policy
‘An Assault on our Future’ White Ribbon Report
This report was written by White Ribbon Ambassador
Dr Michael Flood and Lara Fergus for the Foundation. It
outlined the impact of violence on young people and their
relationships. The report recommended practical actions
for the primary prevention of violence against women and
girls at the national, state and community levels – as well
as further actions which reflect White Ribbon’s emphasis
on engaging men and boys in positive roles.
The report was launched on November 17, 2008, and
within the first few months had over 3000 downloads from
the White Ribbon website. A copy was also sent to all
Federal and State Government Ministers.
The report featured prominently in the media. It has been
used as a reference in a number of subsequent policy
papers, including the ‘National Council’s Plan for Australia
to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children’.
Education
Throughout 2008, the Foundation worked to engage
schools and universities in activities leading up to and for
White Ribbon Day. A Schools Kit was developed to assist
schools to run White Ribbon Day activities. The kit had
information about violence against women and the White
Ribbon Foundation, as well as suggestions for fundraising
and awareness-raising activities for schools and
communities with step-by-step advice for running events.
Schools Kit 2008
The kit was mailed-out by request to 291 schools nationwide, an additional 1500 were downloaded from the
website, and 72 schools and 12 universities ordered
promotional materials and ribbons/wristbands.
The report can be downloaded from the White Ribbon website
http://whiteribbonday.org.au/Resources-49.aspx
From: An Assault on our Future, Dr Michael Flood & Lara Fergus, 2009, pp. 35
Membership of the ‘National Council to Reduce
Violence against Women and their Children’
The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women
and their Children was established by the Australian
Government in May of 2008. White Ribbon board member
Libby Lloyd Chaired the Council, and White Ribbon Chair
Andrew O’Keefe was one of the 11 members.[* delete
asterisk] The Council sat for one year, and developed the
report ‘Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for
Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their
Children, 2009-2021’ which was presented to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for the Status of Women,
Tanya Plibersek in April 2009.
The report focused on the need for a greater, more coordinated response to violence against women and girls
from all levels of government and community, as well as
for substantial investments in the justice system, to create
respectful relationships, fair outcomes for all, and safer
communities. The report also recommended that this be
complemented with more effectively planned, targeted
and evaluated approaches to victim response services..
The report can be downloaded from
http://www.ofw.fahcsia.gov.au/reducing _violence/national_plan/index.htm
From: A Snapshot to Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for Australia
to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021, FaHCSIA,
2009 pp. 2-3
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
Ambassador AND SCHOOL Talks
White Ribbon Ambassadors spoke at 37 schools nationwide as part of schools’ White Ribbon Day activities, as
suggested in the Schools Kit. Ambassadors who were
new to the campaign for the 2008-2009 year undertook
more than half of these.
Principals Pilot
In early 2009, the Foundation piloted a program on
violence prevention with 14 male Principals from NSW
Sydney Region schools. The key objectives of the
program were to deepen the understanding of male high
school Principals regarding the context for, and nature
of, violence against women in Australia. Throughout the
program Principals explored and developed their individual and collective ideas to tackle the problem in their
own schools and to develop ideas for application in future
statewide and national programs for schools.
The program was designed to move into the 2nd phase
in 2009-10, with Principals from the 1st phase introducing
the program to a 2nd group of male Principals for development and implementation in their schools.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Partnership
White Ribbon National Leaders Group
The first White Ribbon National Leaders Group was formed in 2005, prior to the establishment of the White Ribbon
Foundation. This group of committed men and women from across government, business and community sectors
played a key role in driving the White Ribbon Campaign forward by formulating strategies, identifying and brokering
strategic partnerships and recruiting White Ribbon Ambassadors.
A new cohort of National Leaders Group members were appointed by the Foundation Board in February 2009 for a
two-year term to provide the campaign with high level strategic advice and leadership with a view to growing the
White Ribbon campaign into all spheres of Australian society.
The NLG Members for 2008-2009 were:
Adam Whyte
Judy Finn
Mike Ritchie
Simone Bartley
Angus Clelland
Karen Willis
Moira Carmody
Sue Clark
Archie Fraser
Ken Gillespie
Murray McInnis
Sue Conde
Brian Flanagan
Leigh Gassner
Nick Voudouris
Susan Boucher
Christopher Cosier
Libby Lloyd, AO
Nick Foster
Tanveer Ahmed
Clare Hogan
Mark Murdoch
Nick Mazzarella
Trish Crews
Craig Marsden
Matt Miller
Nick Roskolnikov
David Templeman
Michael Flood
Peter van Vliet
Jo Setright
Mick Doleman
Rosalind Strong
Supporters
In 2008, Suzanne Grae, a fashion retailer, became a
partner of the Campaign, and brought an organisationwide engagement with support provided by both staff
and customers. Some of the initiatives that Suzanne Grae
have undertaken include workplace giving which the
company also matches dollar for dollar, sales of ribbons
and wristbands in their retail stores, information decals
installed in fitting rooms, the development of a referral
card for customers available in stores, Ambassador presentations at their staff conferences around the country,
various staff fundraising events and the donation of staff
time to support the White Ribbon Campaign on areas of
graphic design, sponsorship of the White Tie Dinner Gala
event. Suzanne Grae’s financial support for the campaign
and its organisation has particularly underpinned the
increased capacity of the Foundation to support and grow
the Ambassador program.
The Body Shop, who have been supporting White Ribbon
Day over a number of years by selling ribbons in stores,
this year teamed up with us to run a special ‘Stop Violence in The Home’ campaign from 21 July to 3 August
2008. This saw The Body Shop offer free wallet-sized
information cards to their customers to share with friends
and family which offer advice, tips and support options for
people experiencing or witnessing domestic violence.
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
During this time, The Body Shop also sold a special Lip
Care Stick Duo which was designed for ‘sharing one for
me and one for you’. It was designed as a way of breaking
the ice and having a conversation with a friend who may
be in an abusive relationship.
ACT TAB funded the trial of a new men’s referral card in
September 2008. The wallet cards have tips on how to
challenge attitudes and behaviours that tolerate violence,
as well as advice and referrals information. The cards
were distributed through ACT TAB outlets and events, as
well as at White Ribbon Day activities around the country.
See page 8 for a full list of our supporters for 2008-2009.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
MEDIA AND Advertising
In 2008 Adshell supported the White Ribbon Campaign
with free outdoor advertisement placement which helped
to promote White Ribbon Day in 665 locations nationally.
White Ribbon continued with the advertising campaign
developed by Saatchi & Saatchi in 2007, featuring a range
of football players, including Gorden Tallis from the NRL,
Jason Johnson from the AFL and Brendan Cannon from
Rugby Union. The advertisements were highly effective,
with the featured players wearing the jerseys of other
sporting codes to emphasise their willingness to help to
change attitudes to violence against women. The ads
were featured in a range of outdoor settings including the
NRL World Cup events and the NRL Grand Final. The print
ads were placed in a range of media outlets including the
Daily Telegraph (Sydney) and Alpha magazine.
The support of Saatchi & Saatchi for the White Ribbon
Campaign, through commitment of their creative team
resources to the design and development of television
and print media advertising for White Ribbon Days in
2004 to 2008, and the talented pro bono work of Zenith
Optimedia whose team arranged advertising placements
for the Campaign, brought high visibility to the Campaign
throughout Australia and was instrumental in establishing
strong recognition of the White Ribbon, the International
Day on November 25 and the campaign messages.
White Tie Dinner 2008
In September 2008 the Foundation hosted the 3rd annual
White Tie Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney. Prime
Minister, and White Ribbon Ambassador, Kevin Rudd
delivered a moving keynote address, in which he declared
that “violence against women is the great silent crime of
our time” and stressed the importance of changing men’s
attitudes towards violence.
The Prime Minister also presented the 2008 White Ribbon
Ambassador Award to Mark Burgess, CEO of the Police
Federation of Australia, for his exceptional contributions
to the campaign, and also announced funding for the
research and analysis of Australian community attitudes
towards violence against women.
It was also an entertaining evening, with Joe Hockey and
Wil Anderson taking on Tony Burke and Adam Spencer in
the Ambassadors’ ‘Great Debate’ as to whether ‘Canberra
needed more comedians’.
The White Tie Dinner was a huge success, and thanks to
the Ambassadors, corporate partners and supporters who
attended the event, over $160,000 was raised to provide
support for the White Ribbon Foundation and campaign
activities. The event received excellent media coverage,
that vastly increased the visibility of the campaign for the
rest of the year.
Media
White Ribbon commissioned Media Monitors Australia to
record and report on all Australian media stories featuring
White Ribbon, and the results of the 2008 campaign were:
AM Radio mentions – 104
FM Radio mentions – 65
Television mentions – 67
Newspaper/Print Media mentions – 28
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
White Ribbon Day 2008
White Ribbon Day 2008 was a great success, thanks to
Ambassadors, community organisations and corporate
partners and supporters who hosted over 200 events
around Australia, and sold white ribbons and wristbands
in their businesses. This year, a number of Ambassadors
spoke about the campaign at school, community, and
workplace events, and with local and national media.
The White Ribbon Foundation and White Ribbon Day
events received a significant increase in media coverage,
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
and were mentioned several times on the day in the
Senate and House of Representatives, as well as in Sout
Australian and New South Wales parliaments.
On the day, more than 200 new Ambassadors signed up,
and over 4,000 people joined the White Ribbon Facebook
group. Sales of white ribbons and wristbands on the day
also rasied $260,000 which helps to support the Foundation and to expand the campaign for the following year.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Financial Statements
2008-2009 was White Ribbon’s first full financial year of
operations
Proceeds from fundraising activities
White Ribbon Day 2008: $265,903
Grants
Federal Government Grant
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services
and Indigenous Affairs: $250,000
State Government Grant
NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Office for
Women’s Policy: $65,000
Donations* $453,917
* Includes donations in kind to the value of $75,000, which
are represented at full market rate in compliance with
Australian Accounting Standards
Total Revenue $1,044,520
Expenditure $553,768
Cost to fundraise $190,684
Governance
Board members
Andrew O’Keefe (Chair)
Rosemary Calder
Charles Curran
Dr. Leigh Gassner
Libby Lloyd AM
Registered Office and Staff
P.O. Box 20, Killara NSW 2071
Executive Officer: Isabel McCrea
Communications and Marketing: Katrina Brooks
Ambassador program: Jay Richardson (2008);
Juan Fernandez (2009)
Programs: Jenny Huxley
Administration: Wendy Clarke
State & Territory Partners
No to Violence (VIC)
CEO Challenge (QLD)
CVAW (Challenging Violence Against Women) (ACT)
Department of Premier and Cabinet (NSW)
Office for Women’s Policy (NT)
Department for Child Protection (WA)
Office for Women (SA)
Supporters AND PARTNERS
The Body Shop
Capital Investment Group
Channel 7
DHL
Lion Nathan
Napoleon Perdis
Network Video
New Idea
NRLOptimedia
Saatchi and Saatchi
Suzanne Grae
Text 100
White Ribbon Foundation (Australia)
A.C.N. 126 739 544
Phone: (02) 9453 1811
White Ribbon Foundation Annual Report 2008-09
PO Box 20 Killara NSW 2071
Email: [email protected]
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