Listening and Accountability Forum: Exploring the role of the media in preventing violence against women and children

The Listening and Accountability Forum will explore how media organisations and individual journalists can produce respectful coverage when reporting on violence against women and children. Through keynote speakers, expert panels and dedicated workshops, the forum aims to improve reporting and ensure respectful representation in the media by giving journalists and victim-survivor-advocates an opportunity to share expertise, collaborate and develop an understanding of the nuances involved when reporting on violence against women and children.

The intersectionality forum is hosted by the National Voices for Change Group, which centres survivor-advocate perspectives to ensure their stories are shared in a safe, sensitive, and responsible way.

Tickets for keynote, panel and workshops can be selected individually. There is no charge for sessions.

Keynote: Let's Talk Media

Guest speaker: Talie Star

(10 am - 11 am AEST)

Talie Star is a committed Advocate/Consultant/Speaker specialising in trauma, domestic and family violence, homelessness and disability, and works with many peak bodies, governments and NGO's across the sector, both state-based and nationally.

Panel: Disability viewpoints 

(11:15 am - 12:15 pm AEST)

A panel with a focus on respectfully and effectively interviewing and consulting women with disabilities who have experienced domestic and family violence.

Featuring disability advocate and former Paralympian, Karni Liddel; Kristy, a disability survivor advocate; and Norman Hermant (ABC) who will speak to sensitively and respectfully interviewing people with layers of trauma and vulnerability, and share their learnings. 

Workshops:

(1:30 pm - 3:30 pm AEST)

These workshops give journalists interested in producing stories on
these topics an opportunity to develop their sensitivity in reporting
and hear from experts by experience. Workshops places are limited, with 6
places for each workshop.

We encourage gender diverse, intersex and sexually diverse experts by experience, survivor advocates and journalists to share their expertise and help to deepen good reporting on the specific topics in these workshops.

Attendees can only select one workshop to attend. 

Diversity and deflecting: Our difference is a strength and not cause for victim-blaming

Survivor/advocate: Dhanya Mani    Journalist: Sarah Malik (SBS)

The coverage of sexual assault in parliament in 2019 highlighted issues with the workplace culture in the national seat of government. The ongoing debate underscores the need for safe workplaces, particularly in male-dominated fields like politics, and illustrates the silencing of women of colour when racism and sexism intersect.
Lawyer and former NSW State Liberal staffer Dhanya Mani speaks with Sarah Malik, a Walkley Award-winning Australian investigative journalist and presenter. Dhanya experience to get her sexual assault taken seriously led her to fight for a transparent party complaints process that was largely overlooked until the story of a white complainant became public. Dhanya and Sarah will discuss how people from refugee and migrant backgrounds are represented in the media, how to avoid survivors being additionally traumatised when their stories are being told, and the need for media organisations and journalists to recognise bias in editorial decision making.

Seen and not heard: Interviewing those whose rights to speak challenge reporting practice 

Survivor/advocate: Liam* and Millie* with support from Michelle*     Journalist: Matilda Marozzi (ABC)

Brother and sister Liam (14) and Millie (10) are child survivors of family violence. In 2020, their perpetrator, a serving police officer, was convicted of violent offending and making death threats directly against them and their mother. Despite this, Liam and Millie’s lives are not yet free of fear. After assessing that speaking out would not put them at greater risk, Liam and his mum approached the ABC’s Matilda Marozzi. As an investigative journalist at ABC Radio Melbourne, Matilda helped them tell their story on radio and online. By speaking out publicly Liam and Michelle have helped drive substantial police reforms and raise awareness of how children experience and are impacted by domestic abuse.
This workshop will focus on those whose right to speak leave voices unheard, the importance of recognising children and young people as victims in their own right, and how media attention from a child’s perspective can result in meaningful and ongoing reform.

Reporting the institutions: The story is the system 

Survivor/advocate: Ellie    Journalist: Nina Funnell

Decades of advocacy by survivors and those who support them has shone a light on gender-based violence and the need to ‘break the silence’ to stop the cycle of abuse. Despite this ground-breaking work, domestic, family and sexual violence too often continues to be seen as something that happens behind closed doors, in private, and alone.
This workshop will explore how media practitioners and those with lived experience can collaborate on reporting that amplifies the voices of survivors. It will also unpack the often-complex concepts of structural and systemic barriers towards equality and safety across a range of settings, from legal and justice responses to the media itself.
Bringing her voice to this workshop is Ellie, a survivor-advocate with lived experience of emotional, financial and physical abuse. Ellie believes silence is a breeding ground for intimate partner violence and is passionate about creating change, driving conversations and education, and advocating for the rights of women, children, and other vulnerable groups in society.

Everyday racism and sexism: accountability when reporting violence in the context of colonial patriarchy  

Survivor/advocate: Sono Leone  Journalist: Bridget Brennan (ABC Indigenous)

From the outset of colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have routinely been portrayed in dehumanising and sensationalist ways in the media. Whether the story is about domestic violence or deaths in custody, until recently there has been little acknowledgement of the ongoing impact of colonialisation on this violence, as well as the way these stories themselves further a culture of violence and dehumanisation against First Nations women.
Butchulla and Garrawa woman Sono Leone, the founder and CEO of Strong Women Talking, talks about her work with First Nations women healing from the trauma of family and domestic violence by connecting to culture, country and community. They will discuss who gets to tell First Nations stories, the ongoing impacts of colonisation, and strengthening pride in culture through positive and powerful reporting.

We encourage non-First Nations folks to step back on this workshop to allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to contribute to this conversation.

Disaster patriarchy: Reporting on violence against women during bushfires, pandemics, floods and drought

Survivor/advocate: Donna Wheatley  Journalist: Nick McKenzie (The Age)

The violence women experienced during the pandemic received unprecedented coverage. Prior to this, violence against women in emergencies like bushfires and floods received almost no coverage, while the hero myth features strongly in media story telling. How do we account for the gendered nature of our reporting on emergencies?
Donna Wheatley, Commander with Fire Rescue Victoria, speaks with Nick McKenzie, multi-award-winning investigative journalist. After decades on trucks and fighting fires, Donna was one of the first two women to reach Commander rank in Fire Rescue Victoria. Nick broke the story of her experiences of violence in the service.
They will discuss how to increase safety, both as a journalist and as a survivor advocate, and the importance of asking the questions that link personal experiences and institutional power.

Reducing the Stigma: The role of the media in reporting violence against sex workers

Survivor-advocate: Rebecca   Media specialist: Penny Underwood

Violence against sex workers is prevalent, and the ways in which it reported in the media is critical in ensuring victim-survivors of assault working in sex work feel safe to disclose. It also helps to steer the public conversation of sex work to one that does not stigmatise but recognises that consent is not negotiable. The recent decriminalisation of sex work in Victoria highlights how this public narrative is shifting and how legislative change is underway to support the safety of sex workers. In this workshop, we will unpack the role of the media in this and discuss ways in which the media can respectfully report on violence against sex workers and how this impacts on public perceptions and systemic barriers to support for sex workers.

Rebecca, also known as Kitty Galore in the sex work community, studied law and also has a strong academic background in community services and mental health. She works as an interpreter to support migrant sex workers and volunteers in her free time at a health and education service. Rebecca patented a technology to keep sex workers safe and reduce social stigma. She is also the charter president of Melbourne’s largest not-for-profit anime club. Penny is the founder of MediaWise. She spent 10 years as a journalist and researcher for regional, national and international print and broadcast media, including the BBC and Channel 4.

Reclaiming power in a modern media landscape – how to avoid doubling down on trauma in a world of clickbait journalism

Survivor/advocate: Azelene Williams   Journalists: Victoria Laurie and Georgia Loney 

How can survivors identify and work with journalists of integrity who will help them hold media institutions to account in a world of clickbait and sensationalist headlines?

This workshop will focus on how survivors can have more control and confidence even within a punishing news cycle. Exploring the issues are Women in Media Australia Co-Patron, award-winning journalist and author Victoria Laurie, joining ABC regional reporter Georgia Loney who made the shift to radio after spending more than seven years as a print journalist.

They will be appearing with Ruah Community Services domestic violence advocate, author, qualified social worker and holistic counsellor Azelene Williams. Azelene has extensive experience with the media and works with teens and adults to educate them about matters including identifying an abusive relationship and putting strategies in place to break free.

The Forum is presented in partnership with:  

• Brisbane Domestic Violence Service (Brisbane)
  
• Domestic Violence NSW(Sydney) 
  
• Embolden(Adelaide) 
• Engender Equality (Hobart)  
• Ruah Community Services (WA)  
• Safe and Equal (Victoria)
  
• Safe Steps (Victoria) 

Voices for Change acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians across this country, and pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples past and present. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.