Carbon Creative launches bespoke First Nations campaign to combat online disrespect

Carbon Creative has launched a bespoke First Nations campaign featuring rapper, producer and founder of the ‘We Are Warriors’ program for youth, Nooky, to encourage First Nations people to ‘Turn Up Respect’ and silence the disrespectful influence of powerful, new social media influencers that are targeting young people and fuelling disrespect towards women and girls.

The Turn Up Respect campaign forms part of the latest phase of the Australian Government’s ‘Stop it at the Start’ campaign, which aims to prevent gender-based violence by encouraging adults to reflect on their attitudes and have conversations about respect with young people aged 10-17 years. This phase raises awareness of the new and negative influences that are impacting the way young people think about respect.

Research shows that 25% of teenage boys in Australia look up to social media personalities who perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes and condone violence against women, so Carbon worked with Nooky to create culturally relevant resources for First Nations communities, including bespoke videos, social tiles, fact sheets and posters.

As part of the campaign, some incredible family violence prevention programs that are making a significant impact in First Nations communities are also being showcased in a Turn Up Respect hero video, produced by Carbon Creative.

This powerful 23-minute documentary-style video aims to inspire and give hope to others and celebrate the difference that supporting women and empowering young people to learn about respectful relationships can make to stopping violence against women at the start. The full video, as well as cut-downs, can be viewed at https://www.respect.gov.au/first-nations-stakeholders.

Says Wayne Denning, Managing Director, Carbon Creative: “Whilst we understand that there is still so much to be done, and is being done, to address domestic and family violence, in this video, our aim is to acknowledge the amazing prevention work that is currently underway within First Nations communities, while also taking the opportunity to keep mob abreast of the new challenges that our young people face in terms of online abuse and disrespect.”

Narrated by Nooky, the video showcases the work of First Nations programs including ‘YoungN Deadly Dijun Way’ from Broome (WA), ‘U Right Sis?’ from Alice Springs (NT), ‘Banatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup’ from Katherine (NT), ‘Kayin Ipikazil’ from Thursday Island (Far North QLD), and ‘We Are Warriors’ from Sydney (NSW), who share the ways in which they are teaching respect in community, supporting women and empowering young people to learn about respectful relationships.

‘U Right Sis?’ is a program that works with community in Central Australia to empower First Nations women to report and respond to online disrespect, while ‘We Are Warriors’, founded by Nooky, aims to highlight and amplify Blak stories of success and teach kids about self_‑respect through dance, music and fashion workshops.

‘Banatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup’ is a group of women who help other women connect to Country and culture, helping empower the next generation to be strong. ‘Kayin Ipikazil’ works with young women to help them understand what is and isn’t ok in relationships, supporting them in their choices, while ‘YoungN Deadly Dijun Way’ tackle bad influences that hate on women by turning up respect and teaching boys all about healthy relationships.

An animated video (embedded above), narrated by Nooky, that shows First Nations parents and carers what young people might see online and how this could negatively influence their behaviour also supports the campaign, along with culturally-relevant social tiles, posters and fact sheets.

“Our young people learn from the adults around them, but these days, they’re also exposed to a new breed of powerful, online voices that can be bad. These platforms directly target our kids, and they’ve become an echo chamber for toxic attitudes to grow,” says Nooky.

“If our kids keep seeing and hearing sexist and disrespectful content, it can warp their views on how women and girls should be treated,” Nooky adds. “As a musician, I’m encouraging mob to come together to turn down the volume on these negative voices, and instead turn up the volume on respect.”

Aboriginal artist Jasmine Craciun, a proud Barkindji, Malyangapa woman from Newcastle, was commissioned by Carbon to develop an artwork to tell the story of ‘Turn Up Respect’, that is being used throughout the First Nations campaign.

The artwork represents hardness and softness coming together — showing how care and support can help stop violence against women at the start.

“The overlapping shapes represent abstract figures reaching out offering support. The figures are like windows, looking through the bright overtones to a darker layer beneath, reminiscent of peering behind the layers of a digital screen. The texture represents the pixels or noise within a screen, acknowledging the new threat coming from the online world, whilst the circle and line pattern shows love and softness. The base layer is sharp and grungy, with the top layer softening the harshness – together telling the story of overcoming negative influences and violence,” says Jasmine about what inspired her to create this artwork.

Elements of the artwork have been used within the videos and other First Nations resources.

The Turn up Respect resources are available at https://www.respect.gov.au/first-nations-resources and are designed to encourage adults to reflect on their attitudes and have conversations about respect with young people aged 10-17 years, particularly regarding the new, negative online influences that are impacting the way young people think about respect.

Client: Australian Government Department of Social Services
Agency: Carbon Creative*
Managing Director and First Nations Consultant: Wayne Denning
Co-Creative Directors: Sandra Hind & Monique Kneepkens
Director: Charlie Fergusson
Art Director: Monique Kneepkens
Illustrator: Dean McGrath
Copywriter: Sandra Hind
Strategist: Rebecca Blinco
Group Account Director: Michele O’Sullivan
Senior Account Director: Ivana Dulovic
Producer: Angela Hueppauff
First Nations Artist: Jasmine Craciun
Post Production: 3P Studio

*Paid advertising campaign, The Hidden Trends of Disrespect created by BMF