Miss World Australia Jasmine Stringer reveals phone call that changed her life
Miss World Australia Jasmine Stringer was only 19 when she got the phone call that change her whole life.
Gold Coast
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It was her very first day in the classroom as a primary school teacher when Jasmine Stringer received the phone call that changed her life.
Her childhood friend Tara Brown, a neighbour almost like an older sister, had just been beaten to death on the side of a Gold Coast road by her former partner, murderer Lionel Patea.
One week later, Jasmine, then just 19, found the strength to sing at Tara’s funeral and she has been searching for a platform ever since to continue using her voice in the fight against domestic violence.
And last year, when she was crowned Miss World Australia, whose motto is ‘beauty with purpose’, she found it.
Using her pageant queen title, Jasmine is dedicating her burgeoning career to not just raising awareness but also funds to help victims and survivors of family violence.
“Tara’s mother is my mother’s best friend, our families have always been close, and when she was killed it was just a pivotal point in my life.
“I was actually in the classroom, I was on my first practical placement as a teacher when I found out, and it opened my eyes to what is happening in our world. Tara had such a wonderful family around her and she still couldn’t escape.
“I feel like I’ve been searching since that day to find a way to pour my soul into this passion and make a difference, for Tara’s sake and all the women who have lost their lives or are at risk.
“I wanted to do more than volunteer, so when I saw what winning Miss World can do, the opportunities it creates to have your message heard, I felt this was something I had to do.
“The sad reality is that the issue of domestic violence has not improved since Tara’s death, it’s so much worse.
“It comes down to the fact that we don’t have enough resources, not enough police, not enough legal aid, not enough shelters and not enough funding. I will do everything I can to change that.”
Since being crowned at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre last August, Jasmine said her duties as Miss World Australia have kept her out of the classroom.
However, she hopes to soon make a return – this time to Gold Coast high schools, in an effort to educate the next generation towards DV prevention.
“As a teacher, I’ve thought a lot about how to blend my education experience with my advocacy against DV,” she said.
“So I’m now developing workshops for high school students to get in there and talk about what a healthy relationship looks like, how young girls can improve their self esteem and feel empowered to set boundaries. We think of DV as an adult issue, but if we need to stop it we need to teach our youth.
“We don’t want teen boys being educated by Andrew Tate and online misogynists, or from porn, and we don’t want our girls to accept that kind of behaviour.
“These relationships start so young and girls often turn to their BFFs for advice, but they don’t know themselves. I would love to be able to be that person, who is not their parent or their teacher, someone who they could find relatable but who can give them the tools they need to stop this cycle.”
When it comes to confrontations, Jasmine said she has had her own experience with that as well.
Police were called to the Southport Park Shopping Centre earlier this year after a group, including Jasmine and Top Model Australia contestants she was teaching, alleged they were confronted by a woman.
Police located a 46-year-old woman outside the centre and she was charged with one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and one common assault. The matter is still to go before the courts.
It has all added further fuel to Jasmine’s fire for advocacy, with her role as an ambassador for Australian Fashion Federation seeing the group partner with domestic violence charity RizeUp Australia for a major event in Sydney next month.
“The AFF is holding its inaugural charity fashion gala on September 21 and we’re using that event to raise money for RizeUp,” she said.
“RizeUp ambassador Cameron Daddo will be MC, with Ali Daddo also taking to the stage, and I love that this event will bring together Australia’s vibrant and diverse fashion landscape, with a charity and cause that’s so close to my heart.”
Of course, there’s another big event on the horizon for Jasmine … the global judging for Miss World 2025.
While she was crowned Miss World Australia last year, the international event will take place early next year, with 130 countries competing for the global crown.
“Australia has not held the title since 1972 when Belinda Green won, I think it’s time we bring it back home,” she said.
“I hope I can be the girl to do that because I’d love to bring more attention to some of the incredible groups I’ve been working with. Not just in the domestic violence space but also the Bush to Beach program that gives opportunities to remote and Indigenous children, plus work I’ve been doing with the Variety Club and also supporting women in sport with Minespec Parts.”
For Jasmine, she said she’s not just representing Australia but the Gold Coast as well.
Born and bred on the Coast, she attended primary school at Ashmore State School, where she later taught, followed by Aquinas College and said she spruiked our city wherever and whenever she could.
“My favourite thing about this city is that it has so many different lifestyles wrapped into one, the glamour of the glitter strip, the beauty of the beaches but also the rural life in the Hinterland,” she said.
“I’m a mad horse girl, I actually am currently in training right now for the lead role at the Australian Outback Spectacular, which I’m so excited for. I love that in this city you can be a coastal cowgirl.
“I feel like I’m an advocate for everything Gold Coast. The only thing that can make this city better is to make it safer.”
Especially for women.
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