Mobilising Society to End Violence
A nationwide approach to rebuilding the socialisation of positive behaviour around shared human values.
THE UNDERLYING CAUSE
Domestic, sexual and workplace violence continues despite substantial government investment in laws, policing, frontline services, education and prevention.
These measures are essential, but are failing to stem the rising tide of violence and other anti-social behaviour because we have been neglecting for too long one of the most important elements of civil society- the socialization process of positive behaviour.
We have mobilised government to deal with the symptoms. Now we need to mobilise society to deal with the underlying cause.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Yes, We Signed! is a proposed society-wide campaign to help restore that socialisation process of positive behaviour.
It invites Australians to sign the Freedom Declaration for Peace — a common vision of the human values and behaviours that build trust — and, most importantly, to live those values in their everyday lives.
The campaign would bring together some of Australia's most recognisable leaders and organisations — from politics, business, unions, sport, faith, media and community — not simply as sponsors, but as visible participants.
Together, they can help reinforce a simple social message across Australian life:
Read it. Sign it. Live it.
The ambition is to turn a personal commitment into a visible social norm, reinforced wherever people live, work, learn, play and interact.
THE HUMAN INSIGHT
Australians disagree about almost everything — politics, religion, football, business, media, food and how the country should be run.
That's part of a diverse and democratic society.
A peaceful society doesn't require us to agree on everything.
It requires us to agree on enough things to live together.
That gives us the central proposition:
We don't have to agree on everything to agree on this.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
60 second foundational ad
The campaign can begin with a foundational 60 second advertisement that outlines this initiative, featuring Australian politicians and political leaders laying aside their differences to highlight the gravity of the problem.
The following script for the foundational 60 second commercial is included as a simple demonstration of how effective such a commercial would be in highlighting the problem. To be narrated by an influential and relatable Australian like Konrad Benjamin (Punter's Politics).
**[OPEN — images of Australia: bushfires, floods, neighbours and volunteers helping one another.]**
**KONRAD BENJAMIN**
In Australia, we have a great tradition of questioning authority.
But we have another great tradition, too.
When things get tough, we come together.
**[Bushfires. Floods. Emergency workers. Communities helping each other.]**
**ANTHONY ALBANESE**
Bushfires. Floods. Disasters.
We help our neighbours. We look out for each other.
**ANGUS TAYLOR**
And when the challenge is big enough, we put our differences aside and face it together.
**[Shift: homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals, shops and frontline services.]**
**KONRAD BENJAMIN**
Today, we face another national crisis.
Domestic violence. Sexual violence. Workplace violence and abuse.
Our police, courts and frontline services deal with the consequences every day.
**PAULINE HANSON**
Government can't solve this alone.
**LARISSA WATERS**
Neither can business, social services, unions—or any one part of society.
**[Faces of Australians from different walks of life.]**
**KONRAD BENJAMIN**
Government has mobilised to deal with the consequences.
Now we need to mobilise society to help address the underlying cause.
So let's build something Australia has never attempted on this scale:
a national partnership between government, business and society to restore and reinforce the values and behaviours that allow us to live together peacefully.
Technology now gives us a way to do it.
And the idea is simple.
**ANTHONY ALBANESE**
**Join.**
Join a national movement to end violence and abuse.
**ANGUS TAYLOR**
**Sign.**
Make a simple public commitment to the values that hold our society together.
**PAULINE HANSON**
Respect.
**LARISSA WATERS**
Responsibility.
**ANTHONY ALBANESE**
Compassion.
**ANGUS TAYLOR**
Trust.
**[Rapid sequence: families, workplaces, schools, sporting clubs, shops and online communities.]**
**KONRAD BENJAMIN**
And most importantly—
**Live them.**
At home. At work. Online. Everywhere.
Because changing society doesn't begin with someone else.
It begins with the example we set ourselves.
Government. Business. Community. Individuals.
All playing their part.
**[YES, WE SIGNED! mark fills the screen.]**
*For a kinder world.*
The key messages will be reinforced through a series of 30-second advertisements featuring real people — political leaders, CEOs, business leaders, union leaders, sporting identities, faith leaders, media personalities, employees and other recognisable participants.
The following executions are indicative starting points rather than prescribed advertisements.
Featuring political leaders and representatives from across the parties and independents.
In politics...
We may disagree on the solutions.
We may question the rules.
We may differ on... well, just about everything.
But one thing we all agree on.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
Yes, We Signed!
One simple action.
Join us for a kinder world.
Beginning with major supermarkets, featuring CEOs and selected employees, narrated by a retail workers union representative.
In supporting retail workers.
We may disagree on wages.
We may differ on working conditions.
We may clash to the point of protesting ....which sometimes can go a bit too far.
But one thing we all agree on.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
Yes, We Signed!
One simple action.
Join us for a kinder world.
Featuring leading players, coaches and administrators across Australia's major sporting codes.
In sport...
We may differ on tactics.
We may disagree with the ump.
We may even differ in the fashion stakes.
But one thing we all agree on.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
Yes, We Signed!
One simple action.
Join us for a kinder world.
Featuring recognised representatives from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other faith communities.
In our faith...
We may differ in our beliefs.
We may differ in how we worship.
We may even differ on the most appropriate headwear.
But one thing we all agree on.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
Yes, We Signed!
One simple action.
Join us for a kinder world.
Featuring recognisable representatives from competing media organisations and editorial perspectives.
In the media...
We may disagree on what's important.
We may differ on the emphasis.
We may clash over who's right... or left.
But one thing we all agree on.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
Yes, We Signed!
One simple action.
Join us for a kinder world.
Yes, We Signed! gives leaders and organisations an opportunity to do more than endorse another awareness campaign.
They become part of the campaign itself.
Political opponents can demonstrate that some issues transcend party politics.
Businesses can demonstrate social leadership while standing alongside their competitors.
Sporting organisations can use their extraordinary cultural reach to influence behaviour beyond the playing field.
Faith communities can demonstrate common human values across different beliefs.
Media organisations can show that different editorial perspectives need not prevent common purpose.
And employees, players, community representatives and ordinary Australians can participate alongside their leaders.
No participant is being asked to surrender their identity, beliefs, policies or competitive position.
Quite the opposite.
Our differences are what make the campaign work.
The greater the contrast between the participants, the more powerful the final moment of agreement becomes.
TONE & VISUAL APPROACH
The campaign should be warm, optimistic, inclusive and lightly irreverent.
It should not feel like another government public-service announcement. It should not lecture, shame or frighten people.
The humour comes from our differences — never from violence, abuse or those affected by them.
The emotional rhythm is:
Difference → humour → common ground → hope → action.
One possible visual treatment is to show participants separately in their normal environments before bringing them together in the final scene.
A simple wave to camera could become a recognisable Yes, We Signed! gesture that organisations, workplaces, schools, sporting clubs, families and communities can reproduce.
The treatment and sample scripts are indicative rather than binding.
THE NATIONAL AMBITION
The advertising is intended to be the catalyst for something much larger.
As participation grows, the Yes, We Signed! mark can appear across businesses, workplaces, sporting venues, schools, websites and community organisations.
The campaign can generate its own media through the participating organisations, earned coverage and public participation.
The eventual ambition is a multi-million dollar national campaign, supported by participating governments, businesses and organisations together with contributed media and other support.
The opportunity is to create more than a series of advertisements.
It is to create a social idea that Australia can own.
The creative challenge is equally simple:
How do we turn one small act — signing a declaration — into something millions of Australians want to join?
The starting point:
We don't have to agree on everything to agree on this.
Let's end the violence and the abuse.
YES, WE SIGNED!
For a kinder world.
The Role of PByT
Developed in Australia, PByT — Powered by Trust — provides the concept and enabling technology for this proposed public-private-community partnership.
PByT enables potentially millions of people to participate around a common vision, while providing online feedback that is verifiable, analysable and therefore actionable. In the Yes, We Signed! campaign, the platform provides the infrastructure for people and organisations to participate, reinforce positive behaviour and measure the response.
The campaign would provide a world-first demonstration of how this approach can be applied to a major real-world social problem — bringing government, business and society together to help rebuild the socialisation process around the values and behaviours that build trust.
MORE INFORMATION
For the thinking behind the campaign, the Freedom Declaration for Peace and the broader strategy for mobilising society: Mobilizing Society Against Violence