You have the right
Raising awareness
of IBAC’s police
oversight role
Encouraging people to speak up safely when feeling mistreated
When corruption and misconduct happen in the public sector, it hurts us all. We expect the public sector, state government, local council and police officers to perform their duties lawfully, honestly, professionally and ethically for the good of the community.
Sadly, this is not always the case and it’s up to all of us to speak up when something is not right. Icon Agency partnered with The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) to design a targeted creative communications campaign to increase awareness of their police oversight role within regional Victoria, with a specific focus on LGBTIQA+ and CALD communities.
Tackling unreported police misconduct
IBAC is Victoria's agency responsible for preventing and exposing public sector corruption and police misconduct. A significant part of IBAC’s role is to have independent oversight of Victoria Police to ensure police act impartially, professionally and in accordance with the law and with respect to human rights.
IBAC's jurisdiction covers serious misconduct such as assault, disclosing sensitive police information, major cover-ups, bribery or fraud. IBAC also takes complaints on any conduct which would bring Victoria Police into disrepute or cause the public to lose confidence, including breaches of human rights such as racism, sexist or discriminatory use of power, degrading treatment, and the safety and wellbeing of a victim or complainant.
IBAC receives thousands of complaints relating to Victoria Police every year. However, its intelligence suggests there may be incidents of police misconduct that go unreported by the public, particularly in parts of regional Victoria.
Our communications set out to raise awareness about IBAC’s police oversight role, what police misconduct is and how the community can report it.
Giving a voice to culturally, linguistically and LGBTQIA+ diverse communities
Engaging people in regional areas, particularly those who are culturally and linguistically diverse or members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, presented numerous challenges for the creative to tackle. Awareness of IBAC’s role within these communities is low and poorly understood which means people who experience, or witness police misconduct may lack understanding about who they should turn to.
Another key challenge was helping this audience understand precisely what police misconduct is. Police misconduct can describe a number of acts and behaviours and it was imperative that we help audiences understand what it involves.
The final challenge was around tackling audience apprehension to report police misconduct. This apprehension may arise for social, economic or cultural reasons or because of a fear of speaking out. Assuring the audience that reporting information to IBAC is safe, with an option to report anonymously, was important to encourage people to step forward.
You have the right to not remain silent
Icon worked closely with IBAC to develop a creative territory that spoke directly to the target audience and developed an artistic direction that was emotive and empathetic.
The creative territory ‘You have the right to not remain silent’ was developed to encourage individuals to report police misconduct to IBAC. The campaign was supported by headlines which called out the undeniable human rights the general public should expect from their police force, notably:
‘You have the right to be treated fairly by police’
‘You have the right to not remain silent’
To create an empathic tone and represent the community we were talking to, Icon conducted videography and a photo shoot with five cast members representing key demographics and backgrounds of our LGBTIQA+ and CALD communities.
The content for the campaign was captured in a cost-effective and efficient manner with a one-day shoot at Icon’s production studio, the Content Garden.
A multi-platform campaign launch
Working alongside IBAC and the media partner, Icon delivered a creative campaign that ran across outdoor, radio, print and digital media, commencing May 2022.
Icon was thrilled to see this vital campaign come to life, underpinned by engaging and powerful video and photography content and striking art direction.
Visit the campaign website here.
Services
Creative concept and development
Copywriting
Video production
Photography
Graphic design
