Case Study: Maroondah City Council

Re-Capture Equity Project

Why it is important

This project helps to ensure positive and inclusive depictions of all people in print and digital media by actively working to remove stereotyping and ensure balanced representation.

Maroondah City Council is one of fifteen councils who were funded under the 2022-2025 Free From Violence Local Government Program.

The first step of the program was to undergo an ‘Organisational Health Check’ on ways council could take steps to educate employees on the Free from Violence program.

As part of this check a need was identified for a larger, more diverse, and inclusive image library at council which would support positive representation of the Maroondah community, and support work to challenge negative stereotypes and potential stigmatisation.

An image audit of Council key strategies and action plans was conducted to identify gaps in its image library.

Council then developed Best Practice Guidelines and a Checklist Tool based on the “Gender Equality in Advertising & Communications Guidelines for Local Government” resource by ShEqual, broadening its scope to ensure an intersectional approach.

Training was developed for employees to understand a primary prevention model and the application of these resources in their roles.

Attendance at this training was voluntary and sessions were delivered every 3 months.

A volunteer was also engaged to support the capturing of suitable photos to add to Council’s image library, with a specific focus on capturing photos that would help to fill the gap areas identified through the audit.

Call to action

Conduct your own image audit to understand how your community is represented in image-based media and determine whether further work needs to be done to ensure inclusivity and positive representation.