Campaign stories

Everyday Australians are getting together to make change in their communities using CommunityRun. Campaigners have held rallies, called and emailed MPs, attended local Council meetings, pounded pavement gathering signatures, held information days and BBQs, gathered personal stories, written formal submissions, run newspaper ads and so much more.

Here are just a handful of the many great stories of CommunityRun campaigns.

Safer Australian Roads and Highways

Devastated by the sudden and preventable death of 23 yr old Sarah Frazer on the Hume Highway in February of 2012, Sarah's sister Jess led the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group in a campaign to reform NSW road safety laws. SARAH's campaign called for breakdown lanes on all of NSW's highways and freeways to meet the minimum national standard of 2.5 metres, mitigating the risk to both drivers and emergency service personnel when parked on the side of the road. The 23,000 signature strong petition was presented to NSW Parliament in September. As a direct result of the lobbying of the SARAH group, the Hume Highway's breakdown lane was widened to meet safe standards.

Save Bobin Public School

When P&C President Clare discovered her local one-teacher school with 8 students was set to shut after 130 years, she mobilised her local community on CommunityRun. They made a splash in local and state media and held stalls, regular meetings, past students shared their stories of the school's importance and locals attended a rally outside the post office when mailing their petition to NSW Education Minister. When the Department of Education announced the school's future beyond 2013 was more secure, Clare and her community were ecstatic. Speaking to local media, Clare said “I’m proud to be in a community that can get together and achieve great things.”

Save King George V Avenue

Christine is a Tamworth local and member of the action group 'Save King George' - a group committed to ensuring the historic 76 year old trees planted along King George V Avenue will be enjoyed by future generations. Christine started her CommunityRun campaign right at the beginning of it all in March, and has been fighting to prevent the removal of the trees ever since. She gathered 12,000 signatures in her community both online and offline and these supporters lobbied their Council successfully, ensuring the original development proposal to remove the 47 trees would not go ahead. In early 2013 the trees were given provisional heritage listing status. Until this listing is official, Christine will continue to fight new development plans that threaten the trees.

Stop the Super Trawler

Over a few months, Rebecca's campaign grew from a small community opposition to nation-wide rejection of the super trawler that dominated headlines. The campaign, supported by Environment Tasmania and an alliance of 16 conservation and recreational fishing groups, saw supporters contacting MPs in droves and attending events across Australia as part of a national day of action. They built a website, ran a full-page ad and delivered the petition, each signature represented by a paper fish, on the lawns of Parliament. GetUp members also joined in Rebecca's campaign, doubling signatures and donating to another newspaper ad. The almost 100,000 supporters emailed, called and tweeted Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig and Environment Minister Tony Burke. Finally, after weeks of strong media attention and campaigning, Tony Burke's legislation to ban the trawler and review fishing practices was passed in Parliament. Rebecca is now focused on ensuring the ban is respected and the scientific review goes ahead.

Save the ANU School of Music

Yasmin pulled together a team to help her run the campaign and in the space of three weeks, they'd gathered support from over 20,000 people, including endorsements from celebrity music-lovers like Keith Urban! Supporters emailed the Vice-Chancellor, organised a 24hr protest concert and held in a marching band rally on campus. While the School's fate is far from secure, the campaign was instrumental in opening a dialogue between the students and the University Council regarding the future of funding decisions for the school.

Save Darlo's Laneways

Chris collected signatures online and offline, bringing supporters in his suburb together on CommunityRun to fight a proposal to close an iconic old laneway. The petition was delivered to Council and Chris' 435 supporters built momentum by calling and emailing Councillors and the Lord Mayor, and attending Council meetings. In just over a month Chris' campaign to "Keep Darlo's laneways open" won - with a redesign passing council that retained the laneway and provided new public greenspaces.

Save, protect and rezone Tootgarook Swamp on the Mornington Peninsula

Busy local action group 'Friends of the Tootgarook Swamp' have widened their supporter base online through CommunityRun in their pursuit for protection of their threatened wetlands. They've held meetings, donated to full page awareness ads in the local paper, sent letters to government and community groups, held a BBQ information day, attended council meetings, organised a hearing with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and submitted photos of the swamp to competitions. Their campaign now has the support of the local council and they're steadfast in their goal to protect the area from multiple developments.

Queenslanders for an NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme)

Carol was outraged by the QLD LNP Government's lack of support for investment in the Federal Government's new National Disability and Insurance Scheme (NDIS). As part of the Community Safeguards Coalition, Carol knows all too well the lack of support given to those living with disability, likening obtaining support under the current system to 'winning the lotto'. Carol fought hard to build support for her campaign, delivering her almost 4000-strong petition to Premier Campbell Newman in a sit-down meeting. Despite disappointing news that QLD would not support trial sites, Carol has continued her campaign, gathering stories of those impacted by inadequate funding and sending them to Queensland MPs. As the national rollout of the scheme approaches, Carol will work to raise the profile of the plight of people living with permanent disability, their families and carers.

Fund Art Education in NSW

Outraged artist and former Fine Arts student Penny Ryan reacted to the extreme cuts to Art education in TAFE instutions across NSW by launching her campaign on CommunityRun. In the space of just a few months, Penny and Fine Arts Meadowbank Inc were able to create a vibrant movement supported by over 30,000 signatories, both on and offline. Avant Card even sponsored a postcard for supporters to mail to the Premier. The petition was delivered in spectacular fashion in November last year, with supporters holding painted placards spelling out the names of all the TAFEs that could be impacted, in a rally outside NSW Parliament House. Labor MP Carmel Tebbutt tabled the petition for the group. Although the fate of NSW TAFE Fine Arts courses remains up in the air, this year Penny is continuing her fight to have the funding for such courses reinstated and describes the experience of running the campaign as "extremely rewarding".

Do you have something you want to change in your Community? Head to http://www.communityrun.org to start building your campaign. For tips, FAQs and training, check out the CommunityRun blog.

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