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Our Watch, formerly Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children, is an Australian organisation that exists to help prevent
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...
and their children. Founded in mid-2013 with
Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian politician, diplomat, advocate and author. She is the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their childr ...
as founding chair, the organisation is based in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
. It is an independent non-profit organisation that is jointly funded by all
states and territories of Australia The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...
. Since 2015, it has presented Our Watch Awards, administered by the
Walkley Foundation The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...
, for excellence in reporting on gendered violence. Our Watch runs the website ''The Line'', aimed at educating young people aged 12 to 20 about respectful relationships and behavioural change. It also developed resources for schools, known as the Respectful Relationships program, which has been rolled out in schools across the state of Victoria.


History and aims

Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian politician, diplomat, advocate and author. She is the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their childr ...
was the founding chair of the organisation, founded as the Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children. It was launched in July 2013 by
Julie Collins Julie Maree Collins (born 3 July 1971) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Tasmanian seat of Franklin since the 2007 federal election. She held ministerial positions in the G ...
, then Commonwealth Minister for the Status of Women, and
Mary Wooldridge Mary Louise Newling Wooldridge (born 29 July 1967) is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 2006 to 2019. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the seat ...
, then Minister for Community Services in the
Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
, as a joint initiative of the Victorian and
Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
s. Its primary purpose then was "to raise awareness and engage the community in action to prevent violence against women and their children", and it was established under the "National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (2010-2022)". Its role was to provide national leadership in this area, and to drive change in culture, behaviours and power imbalances that cause violence against women. Text has been copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence. (Se
here
)
The
Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...
signed up in 2014, followed in the same year by the
Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...
. In 2015, the "Change the Story" strategy was published, and ''The Line'', a website and social campaign aimed at educating young people aged 12 to 20 about respectful relationships and behavioural change, was launched. Male engagement with ''The Line'' increased from 25 per cent in June 2017 to 80 per cent in 2018. Our Watch developed resources for schools and delivered a pilot programme to 19 schools first, and the Royal Commission into Family Violence (established by the Victorian Government in 2015) recommended that the "Respectful Relationships" program be rolled out across all Victorian Government schools from prep to year 12. In 2015 the
Tasmanian Government The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invite ...
joined Our Watch, and in their 2019–2022 action plan established a position in collaboration with the organisation, the Our Watch Senior Advisor Tasmania. They have also committed to implementing the Our Watch "Workplace Equality and Respect Standards" across all government departments. In 2016 the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
joined Our Watch, with the
ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lead ...
following in the same year. Fashion retailer
Mimco Country Road is a middle market clothing retailer with operations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is a subsidiary of Woolworths Holdings Limited. its brands include Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Politix, and Witchery. History ...
has supported Our Watch since 2016, with all profits from a special collection donated to the organisation. In 2017, Mimco and Our Watch appointed professional surfer Laura Enever as their new ambassador for the following three years. As of 2017, Mary Barry, was CEO of Our Watch. In that year, the
Western Australian Government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...
joined Our Watch. In 2018, a new element was added to the framework, with the publication of "Changing the picture: preventing violence against
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
women". In 2019, the
New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
announced that it would be joining Our Watch. In 2020,
Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
partnered with Our Watch, producing free online resources for employers to help support employees who experienced domestic and family violence. They created a website called Workplace Equality and Respect. In 2021, the second edition of the "Change the story" framework was released. The revised edition turns the focus onto male perpetrators, not the victims of family violence. It turns the emphasis away from "response and women, to prevention and men", calling for
systemic change A structural fix refers to solving a problem or resolving a conflict by bringing about structural changes that change the underlying structures that provoked or sustain these problems. According to Heberlein such changes modify human behavior by r ...
.


Description

The organisation is based in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. It describes itself as "a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia". Our Watch is an independent non-profit organisation that is funded by all state and territory governments in Australia. As well as various projects aimed at primary prevention, Our Watch has also created strategic frameworks to prevent violence against women and children. These are: * "Change the Story": A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia (updated in 2021) * "Changing the Picture": A national resource to support the prevention of violence against
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
women and their children * "Counting on Change": A guide for policy-makers, researchers, and other stakeholders on measuring population-level progress towards the prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia


People

Co-founder and inaugural chair Natasha Stott Despoja left the position in July 2021, and was appointed life patron in August 2022. Moo Baulch was appointed to the role in April 2022. Patty Kinnersly was appointed CEO in 2018, after three years in the role of director, practice leadership. Ambassadors have included
Arman Abrahimzadeh Arman Abrahimzadeh is an Iranian-Australian anti-domestic violence campaigner based in Adelaide, South Australia, co-founder of Zahra Foundation Australia . Biography Abrahimzadeh and his family migrated to Australia from Iran in 1997. His f ...
; Ben Brown;
Tarang Chawla Tarang Chawla is an Indian-born Australian writer, lawyer, activist, Commissioner and former Independent political candidate. Following the murder of his sister Nikita Chawla in 2015, Chawla became an activist against men's violence. In Novemb ...
; Kyle Flanagan;
Khadija Gbla Khadija Gbla (born 1988) is an Australian feminist and human rights activist She works as a cultural consultant, a keynote speaker and an anti- female genital mutilation (FGM) campaigner, based in South Australia. She founded the advocacy organ ...
;
Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering (born 29 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, author and producer. Pickering currently hosts ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'', a weekly news satire television show on the ABC, as well ...
;
Lucy Turnbull Lucinda Mary Turnbull Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (née Hughes; born 30 March 1958) is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former Local government in Australia, local government politician. She served on the Sydney City ...
;
Tasma Walton Tasma Walton (born 19 August 1973) is an Australian television and film actress. Acting career Walton joined local radio station 6GE and trained as a production assistant and copy writer in her home town. She was accepted into the National Ins ...
;
Julia Zemiro Julia Zemiro () (born 14 April 1967) is a French-born Australian television presenter, radio host, actress, singer, writer and comedian. She is best known as the host of the music quiz and live performance show '' RocKwiz''. Zemiro is a fluent ...
; Stella Young; and others.


Impact

As of 2018, Australia was the only country with a national framework to prevent violence against women and their children, which put Our Watch in a unique position. An independent
impact evaluation Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones. In contrast to outcome monitoring, which examines whe ...
of Our Watch published by
PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
in December 2018 surveyed 251 people across the country. Around 82 per cent of respondents said that they were familiar with the work done by Our Watch, and nearly 75 per cent reported that the "Change the story" framework had influenced their approach to primary prevention. Importantly, Our Watch had created an Australian evidence base, and had established a common language for use when discussing the issue of
gendered violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply as ...
. The report also concluded that Our Watch, through its extensive programs, publications, events and resources delivered to meet its key priorities, that is to build the evidence base; to raise awareness; and to expand the capacity of primary practitioners. The report concluded that Our Watch had not only achieved its original intended outcomes, but had also brought about very helpful outcomes outside of its original scope. It said that it had fully achieved one of its three five-year organisation-level outcomes, that of evaluating and publicly reporting on all initiatives, and that it had partially met the other two: securing sufficient funding, and achieving recognition by international organisations as a leader in the field. It included nine recommendations to develop its future strategy. A second independent evaluation was conducted by
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...
in 2021. In the executive summary, the report said "Our Watch has and continues to meet the policy outcomes set when it was established", and, although the impact of primary prevention measures are difficult to measure, "Our Watch has achieved extensive influence in the development of the field of primary prevention in Australia and its evaluated programs have shown influence in changing attitudes". The report identified some key successes and areas to focus on in the future.


Our Watch Awards

In 2015 the inaugural Our Watch Awards were given, awarded by the
Walkley Foundation The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...
and funded by the Australian Government, "to recognise and reward exemplary reporting of violence against women, in particular reporting that highlights the causes of violence and what we as a society can do to ‘stop it before it starts’". Until 2018, several awards were given in up to seven different categories, with an overall Gold Our Watch Award. Since 2019 there has been a single award, known as the Our Watch Award at the Walkley Mid-Year Celebration, which "recognises the work of an individual, team or news organisation in highlighting the drivers of gendered violence and the way these intersect with other forms of discrimination and abuse faced by victims". Winners of Our Watch Awards include: *2015:
Jess Hill Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His c ...
, Gold Award for two longform articles (published in ''
The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''), and two radio documentary programs for
ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...
's ''Background Briefing'' *2016: Lauren Novak and Sheradyn Holderhead from the '' Sunday Mail'' and '' The Advertiser'', for their campaign "Knowing what we’re up against" (Gold Award) *2017: Gina McColl, for her entry “Gendered violence at work” for ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' (Gold Award) *2018:
Julia Baird Julia Baird (née Dykins; born 5 March 1947) is a British retired teacher and author. She is the younger half-sister of English musician John Lennon, and is the eldest daughter of his mother Julia Lennon and John 'Bobby' Albert Dykins. She also ...
, Hayley Gleeson, Debra Jopson, Sarah Malik and Rocco Fazzari,
ABC News Online ABC News, or ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs. The division of ...
, "Religion and domestic violence investigation" *2019: Sarah Dingle and the ''Background Briefing'' team at
Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...
, ABC, for "Australia On Trial: Carers who kill, Slavery in the suburbs, Murder on Trial" *2020: Nina Funnell for the ''Let Her Speak'' series of articles, published in
news.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...
, ''
The Mercury Mercury most commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * M ...
'' and ''
NT News The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It prima ...
'' *2021:
Samantha Maiden Samantha Louise Maiden is an Australian political journalist. She is currently political editor for news.com.au, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia. Early life and education Maiden was born in Adelaide. As a student at Adelaide Universit ...
of news.com.au, for her coverage of the Brittany Higgins story *2022: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton and Madison Griffiths, of '' Broadwave'', for their podcast ''Tender: Roia Atmar''


Our Watch Fellowships

The Our Watch Fellowship Program is also a collaboration with the Walkley Foundation. It provides leadership opportunities for 16 outstanding journalists, delivered in the form of three retreats in 2022.


See also

* Metoo movement *
Rosie Batty Rosemary Anne "Rosie" Batty (born 1962) is an English-born Australian domestic violence campaigner. She became a campaigner in 2014, after her 11-year-old son Luke Batty was murdered by his father, Greg Anderson. She was made Australian of the Y ...
* Timesup


References


External links

* *{{official, https://www.theline.org.au/, The Line Women's rights in Australia
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Family in Australia Violence against women in Australia 2013 establishments in Australia