In a bid to address the issue of gender-based violence and promote consent education, the federal government of Australia has launched a $40 million campaign. The 12-month national consent campaign will utilize various platforms such as television, online videos, social media, and cinemas to spread its message. The campaign, which will run until May 2025, is based on research involving over 2600 Australians and consultations with sexual violence and consent experts. Its goal is to provide clarity and consistency on the messaging around consent and debunk common myths [0b26b3ac].
The Labor government has highlighted the influence of social media personalities who perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes. Research shows that approximately 25% of teenage boys in Australia look up to these influencers. The campaign aims to counteract these harmful influences and provide accurate information about consent [0b26b3ac].
In addition to the consent campaign, the federal government has pledged over $900 million to make a program providing a one-off $5000 payment to women fleeing violence permanent. This commitment comes after an emergency meeting held by the national cabinet in May to address domestic violence prevention [0b26b3ac].
A three-year national project led by Professor Michelle Tuckey from the University of South Australia will investigate a new approach to tackle workplace sexual harassment. The project aims to identify how workplace culture, work design, and working practices contribute to the problem and develop specific interventions to change the workplace cultures and practices through which sexual harassment commonly occurs. The highest risk industry sectors for sexual harassment in Australia are information, media and telecommunications; arts and recreation; electricity, gas, water and waste companies; and retail. The project is in partnership with 10 organizations from the fields of violence prevention, work health and safety, and human rights [87737bdc].