Less talk, more action in the fight against domestic violence

The new head of White Ribbon Australia, Brad Chilcott, talks exclusively about his commitment to tackle domestic violence.

The new chief executive of White Ribbon Australia, Brad Chilcott. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

It secured the public pledges of prime ministers and chief executives, had 1200 celebrity ambassadors and at its peak ran programs for AFL and NRL clubs and ­almost 250,000 students across Australian schools.

But late last year, the anti-domestic violence charity, the White Ribbon Foundation, collapsed in financial ruin amid claims it had become a vacuous boys’ club that succeeded principally in making men feel good about themselves.

On Wednesday, White Ribbon Australia will be relaunched under the stewardship of its ­financial saviour, West Australian community services provider Communicare, and the leadership of a new chief executive, ­veteran social justice campaigner Brad Chilcott, who says it is time for “less talk and more action”.

“Reciting a pledge and putting on a ribbon isn’t going to end violence,” Mr Chilcott said.

“It also doesn’t make a man a hero that he’s taken a pledge. We need to see deeper and more meaningful action.”

Speaking exclusively to The Australian, Mr Chilcott said he was keenly aware of the criticisms White Ribbon faced as a virtue-signalling entity that did a great job of raising awareness of domestic violence but seemed deaf to calls from women and frontline service providers as to how best to prevent it.

The organisation also alien­ated many women by having two categories of public supporters: the high-profile ambassadors program, which could be held only by men, and the less-well-known advocates program, which was open to men and women.

Mr Chilcott will on Wednesday announce a complete overhaul of the organisation, which will see the ambassadors and advocates program axed and replaced with one category of supporters, called community partners, which will be open to women as well as men.

The organisation’s pledge is also under review, with Mr Chilcott saying he was determined for White Ribbon to take a more practical approach to tackling ­violence against women.

“Since Communicare took over we have been seeking honest feedback, and if you could reduce those responses down to one thing it was a sense of tokenism,” Mr Chilcott said.

“The other thing that became clear was that there was a lack of consultation and collaboration. White Ribbon barrelled ahead and did its own thing without deeply listening and learning from frontline services and from women who had experienced domestic violence.”

The launch will be supported by West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and South Australian Premier Steven Marshall, who has recorded a video statement to be broadcast across 24 SA government departments undergoing White Ribbon accreditation.

“For 15 years, White Ribbon Australia has called on us to work together to create a society where all women can live safely, free from violence and abuse,” Mr Marshall says in the video.

“As a White Ribbon ambassador, I am excited to see White Ribbon Australia continuing under Communicare.”

Mr Chilcott said that for all its past faults, White Ribbon still enjoyed huge public recognition and corporate support — and despite the criticisms from some women’s rights activists, there was “a major role” for an organisation that urges men and boys to talk about violence towards women.

“Some people say they don’t like men speaking on an issue that overwhelmingly relates to women, but I don’t think it should be controversial,” he said.

“The majority of all violence is committed by men. Men need to be part of a solution. The problem is when you put someone on a pedestal for not hitting their partner. It doesn’t make you a hero; it just makes you a decent human being. You shouldn’t get a ribbon for agreeing not to do that.”

Mr Chilcott is a Christian pastor and progressive activist with a long record of creating headline-grabbing movements on the left of Australian politics. He started his own church in Adelaide, Activate Church, within the same Pentecostalist denomination as Hillsong, but formally broke away during the marriage equality debate to raise awareness for a “yes” vote. In 2011, he launched the Welcome to Australia campaign that quickly went national across Uniting Churches and other progressive parishes around the country to lobby on behalf of ­asylum seekers.

Mr Chilcott said he had accepted the job with White Ribbon with a view to giving it more “edge”. He said he would be keen for the organisation to campaign more for policy change, citing the long waiting lists for treatment for men who fear they might commit acts of violence.

And with White Ribbon in its former guise being criticised by feminists for fence-sitting on broader questions of female inequality, Mr Chilcott said he believed gender inequality in all its forms should be regarded as the unwelcome precursor to violence.

David Penberthy is a White Ribbon ambassador