Project Overview

Shine a Light on Racism is a Sunshine Coast Council-led campaign, supported by the community, calling on the Sunshine Coast to #DotheWork to address racism in the region.

Organisation

Sunshine Coast Council

Team

Kerrie Forrest - Manager Community Development, Sunshine Coast Council
Timothy Burns - Team Leader Community Development, Sunshine Coast Council
Kim Price - Community Development Officer, Sunshine Coast Council
Michelle French - Coordinator Communication Strategic Projects, Sunshine Coast Council
Mali Davis - Communication Officer, Sunshine Coast Council
Heather Howell - Digital Communication Officer, Sunshine Coast Council
Aisling Gormley - Graphic Designer, Sunshine Coast Council
Jayden Toohey - Sunshine Coast Videography
Tara Lee Photography - Headshots Sunshine Coast
Louise Thompson - Manager Venue 114, Sunshine Coast Council
Kimberley Rider- Venue 114 and Community Venues Marketing Development Officer, Sunshine Coast Council

Project Brief

The campaign involved a community co-design process and featured local personalities as 'Campaign Patrons'. The campaign centred around a feature video, landing page and campaign collateral. The campaign was developed with community partners using co-design principles. The inclusion of Sunshine Coast Council Communication and Graphic Design staff as part of this process was vital, ensuring the intent of the campaign and key concepts were understood and that the story, messaging and imagery were developed with the right language, look and feel. The campaign was successfully launched with the fabulous team at Venue 114 as part of the In Conversation event series at a breakfast featuring keynote speaker and former Socceroo Craig Foster.

The Shine a Light on Racism campaign calls on residents to #DoTheWork to help address racism in our community and actively learn to become an ally. Spearheaded by seven local patrons, the powerful campaign video and striking printed material will be used over the next year to “Shine a Light on Racism” at various events and in conversations with community, sporting and business groups. The campaign has received a fantastic media response. There have been more than 180,000 impressions online, and over 1400 visits to the landing page with 40 pledges. The high-profile South Sydney Rabbitohs backed the campaign as part of their NRL game held at Sunshine Coast Stadium (150K+ reach on their social media channels).

This local Sunshine Coast campaign has been recognised by the QLD Human Rights Commission.

Project Innovation/Need

The uncomfortable truth is, the Sunshine Coast is not always sunny! There is racism in all communities and we must shine a light on it. The campaign aims to reach the dominant culture of the Sunshine Coast who are not normally the victim or target of racism. It seeks to raise awareness of what racism is, and how to become anti-racist. Further, this campaign aims to be transformational, providing a ‘call to action’ to take a journey and take personal responsibility against racism. The campaign encourages the audience to connect with storytelling and do the work to Shine a Light on Racism.

Design Challenge

During this campaign, it was important to name ‘racism’ and disrupt the status quo, and equally important not to name and point out the community as racist, which can intensify racist attitudes. Research shows that many well-intentioned anti-racism campaigns have increased prejudice against other ethnic groups among members of dominant cultures, achieving the opposite of what they intended. This campaign aims to find the balance by naming racism and its impacts and providing a ‘call to action’ to learn about becoming anti-racist. The program provided local branding and messaging that reflects and speaks specifically to our region which ensured a more enduring campaign that we can continue to build annually. Council's art direction for photography and video was vital in capturing the proposed mood through the eyes of our patrons messaging which was reflected successfully on all assets. The campaign aims to reach the dominant culture of the Sunshine Coast who are not normally the victim or target of racism and support them to transition to a place of awareness about what racism is, and how to become anti-racist. The first phase of the campaign focused on individual racism and introduce the language and concept of becoming anti-racist. As our community learns more and engages with the concepts of being anti-racist the campaign focus can move towards institutional racism. The campaign did not reproduce existing national resources, guidelines and tools but will instead direct individuals, community, sporting groups, schools and businesses towards these resources for their own research and use.

Future Impact

Shine a Light on Racism will run as a five-year campaign. Sunshine Coast Council is continuing to grow this campaign with some exciting twists and turns along the way. Watch this space...