FWD+ORGANISE PROGRAM

SIDE EVENT | Industrial School

REDUCING BARRIERS IN OUR SECTOR

Hosted by Raisely

Start Day Two with this thought-provoking breakfast meetup, hosted by the team behind Raisely, exploring actionable strategies to remove the barriers faced by organisations led by and serving marginalised communities. Emily Shurey from Raisely will share what they're doing to contribute to more equitable distribution of fundraising across the sector, and address other barriers faced by organisations led by and serving marginalised communities, and hold space for a guided discussion on barriers and ideas for shifting the sector.

This catered breakfast session is part of Raisely's Removing Barriers initiative, which aims to dismantle obstacles and promote inclusivity within our organisations and better support Raisely customers who identify as led by and/or supporting marginalised communities. It is open to recipients of the Removing Barriers Scholarship to FWD+Organise, as well as anyone interested in helping to develop actionable strategies for fostering a more equitable world for all. Bring your own insights, experiences, and innovative ideas, and join a conversation on how organisations serving our movements can tailor their strategies to create a more inclusive and supportive sector environment.

PLENARY | North Magdalen Laundry

Green Islam: shifting hearts and minds on climate in Indonesia

Elok Faiqutol Mutia (Enter Nusantara)
Grace Vegesana (Australian Youth Climate Coalition)

We have heard Indonesia is the world’s biggest coal exporter, but have you heard about the environmental movement growing in the world's most populous Muslim nation? Learn how efforts to counter false information and shift hearts and minds on climate change are unfolding in one of our closest neighbours in this plenary conversation between Elok Faiqutol Mutia (Mutia) and Grace Vegesana from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

PLENARY | North Magdalen Laundry

Building ambition and growing movements for disability justice

Dom Kelly (New Disabled South) (Online)
El Gibbs (Disability Advocacy Network Australia) (Online)

To create a society that works for all of us, we must build and demonstrate widespread public support for transformative disability policy change.In this plenary session Dom Kelly from New Disabled South will be joined in conversation by El Gibbs from Disability Advocacy Network Australia, together they’ll share case studies and practical examples of how New Disabled South and DANA are building movement capacity and solidarity for disability justice.

PLENARY | North Magdalen Laundry

Lessons on organising from Palestinian movements

Sara Saleh
Sarah Baarini
Other speakers to be announced

Join Sara Saleh and other speakers to be announced for behind-the-scenes insights into the community organising infrastructure that enabled mass protest and distributed anti-war actions in support of Palestine across the country for the past 12 months. Learn how leaders built a decentralised movement, and gain practical advice from their expertise in inducting and supporting volunteers, and troubleshooting challenges that come with sustained mobilisation in the face of mis-and-disinformation and a hostile media environment.

WORKSHOP | Bishop's Parlour

From elephants to sandwiches: countering false information

Gemma Pitcher (Common Cause)

This interactive workshop is for anyone who needs to counter false information, misconceptions or just unhelpful framing of their issue in the media, online, or in face to face conversations.
The training, jointly developed by Common Cause Australia and The Workshop (NZ), will introduce you to proven strategies for addressing mis- and dis-information in your own content, and prepare you for encountering it in face to face conversations, in the media, and online.
Suitable for beginners as well as more experienced practitioners - come along and share your skills and insights.
Difficulty: 💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

PANEL | Convent Salon

Campaign History: lessons in success from nuclear campaigns

Kirsten Blair (Australian Nuclear Free Alliance)
Sanne De Swart

Join us for a journey through nuclear-free campaign history with strong resonance and useful lessons for today’s fight.
For decades Aboriginal communities, along with environmental and other movements, have stood strong in resistance to unwanted nuclear proposals. The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance has a proud history of solidarity and success in the face of powerful mining companies and misguided governments wanting to impose mines, waste dumps and more.
Come along to this panel discussion to hear details of what has worked and discuss what that teaches us for the fight ahead. You’ll hear from frontline campaigners who will share lessons from their community building, creative tactics, organising and mobilising work from decades past and explore how we can apply these skills to the fight ahead.

Difficulty: 💥
Interactivity: 🥄

WORKSHOP | Packing Room

Organising with Affected Communities

Kristin O'Connell (The AntiPoverty Centre)
Emma Bacon (Sweltering Cities)
Maiy Azize (Everybody’s Home)
Priya Kunjan

In a cost of living crisis, building the power of those most affected to advocate is paramount. But when MPs have multi-million dollar housing portfolios how do we successfully support people with vastly different lived expertise to campaign? In this session hear different approaches for how organisers are developing the capacity of people to engage with elected decision makers on housing and economic justice.

Difficulty: 💥💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Industrial School

The New Community Organisers? Innovating with Influencers

James Saunders (Barragi Mawang)
Madeline Lucre (NSW NMA)
Elok Faiqutol Mutia (Enter Nusantara)
Wil Stracke (Victorian Trades Hall Council, moderator)

Creators for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are reshaping the political landscape and reaching audiences who’ve turned away from traditional media. This session will explore what motivates influencers to partner with causes and campaigns and how to use influencer partnerships to increase offline turnout and campaign impact. We'll also unpack what it means when individuals become the celebrity faces of our movements and how to build both collective care and collective accountability for influencer activists - with case studies from housing, healthcare and more.
Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Linen Room

How to have a conversation about Treaty

Alistair Thorpe (First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria)
Tarneen Onus Browne (Australian Progress)

Conversations are a powerful tool and setting an agenda for transformative change on First Nations justice requires time, truth telling, respectful listening and sharing. Thanks to the leadership of the First People’s Assembly, Treaty negotiations are well underway in Victoria. But in order to ensure there is deep and broad support for the process, we all need to be having conversations in our communities and workplaces to support the movement for Treaty. Join this practical workshop to learn how to have a conversation about Treaty with your peers, colleagues and volunteers and skill up those around you too. You’ll also hear how your organisation can be an active ally and get behind the Treaty process in a meaningful way.
Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Community Room

Understanding the New Digital Landscape: Benchmarks and Tools for Digital Organising

Tania Sincock (Pew Charitable Trusts)
Grace Ewart (The Wilderness Society)
Dale Clisby (Code Nation)

The digital landscape has changed drastically, what is the future of online organising? If you’ve been grappling with this question, join this session! Starting with an analysis of current best practice digital benchmarks, you’ll hear case studies on how organisers are choosing which platforms to use and how to build networks online that last and win.

Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄

SIDE EVENT | Industrial School

AUSTRALIAN PROGRESS FELLOWS GATHERING

Hosted by Australian Progress

Australian Progress’ Fellowship program has been running for over 10 years, and is about to pass its 1000th graduate. Over lunch, come together with other Fellowship graduates to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.

WORKSHOP | Linen Room

Storytelling with community: Applying co-design principles in collaborative storytelling for advocacy campaigns

Zenaida Beaton and Kristin Gillies (For Purpose NZ)

As campaigners and organisers, we know stories of lived experience are powerful and we’re eager to involve the community in our storytelling. But how do we do this meaningfully and with care? Led by For Purpose, a social enterprise from Aotearoa, this workshop will give you a framework and lessons on ethical storytelling with community, with case studies from campaigns both here in Australia and New Zealand. This workshop is for digital storytellers and organisers working with affected communities.
Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

PANEL | Convent Salon

Workers to the Front

Wil Stracke (VTHC Working Women’s Centre)
Matt Harrison (CPSU)

In a cost of living crisis, unions are winning improved wages and conditions for workers across the continent. Hear from a stellar lineup of union organisers who are leading the charge, bringing new perspectives to organising, and are ready to share their learnings with all of us.

Difficulty: 💥
Interactivity: 🥄

PANEL | Industrial School

Organising across difference - coalition building to win

Sarah Duruiex (France)
Riley Rocco (Pew)
Darcy Gunning (AMWU)
Lauren Farrow (Renew Australia for All)

In a world of polarisation, how do we create spaces of agreement to work together? Hear local and international case studies of how organisers are creating powerful alliances and coalitions at both regional and national scales. You’ll learn how deep organising approaches have built relationships with unlikely allies to win a ban on fracking in Channel Country and secured a just transition in Collie. Sarah Duruiex will share her experiences of building cross-sector collaborations on issues including abortions rights and the recent election in France. You’ll also hear lessons from the recently launched Renew Australia for All coalition.

Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Packing Room

Conflict transformation in our strategies and movements

Anisha Senaratne
Noura Mansour (Aus. Palestine Advocacy Network)

In our work as organisers and campaigners, there is often an element of debate or conflict in our work, especially when it comes to shifting power and lobbying external decision makers But what about conflict within our spaces? How we approach it, hold each other accountable, and move through it requires practice. Part practical workshop, and part case study of how this was worked through in the movement of advocates for Palestine, this session will talk through how we navigate conflict in strategy and hold people accountable to the collective.

Difficulty: 💥💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Community Room

Why You Don’t Need an Agency: Tips and Tricks to Achieve Digital Impact

Scott Sanders (Creative Freedom)

Looking for low-cost, no-code ways to level up your digital campaigning and actions? Drawing on over 15 years of digital experience, this workshop will cover self-service and generative design, website, comms and campaigning tools to run your own campaigns without the need of an agency, much money, or any coding experience. Whether you’re looking to build power and skills within your organisation, or just don’t have the funds, this session will help you do more with less.

Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄

WORKSHOP | Bishop's Parlour

Coaching for Leadership

Neha Madhok (The Sunrise Project)
Kaz Uy

How can you organise more efficiently and effectively? Coaching is a leadership practice that is essential to ensure the success of your campaigns – from the initial stages of a campaign strategy and managing your team, to building the right work processes and mapping your biggest challenges. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn from some of the leading coaches in the sector about best practice approaches from the Leading Change Network.

Difficulty: 💥💥
Interactivity: 🥄🥄🥄

PLENARY | North Magdalen Laundry

If we work together, we can win

Ngarra Murray (First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria)
Grace Vegesana (Aus. Youth Climate Coalition)
Wil Stracke (Victorian Trades Hall Council)

Designed to inspire you for the next 12 months and beyond, hear lightning talks from leading campaigners working on some of the biggest opportunities we have to work together and win. You’ll hear about the upcoming Treaty negotiations in Victoria, the Federal Election and the “COPportunity” of Australia and the Pacific's bid to host the world’s biggest climate talks - and you’ll leave FWD+Organise fired up for what comes next!