Overview
Telstra Purple partnered with the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) and the Griffith University MATE bystander program (MATE) to develop and launch the ‘Be there’ mobile application. ‘Be there’ provides tools to help family and friends of DFV victims recognise abuse and offer support in an impactful way.
Challenge
MPrioritising DFV prevention efforts.
While there are many amazing initiatives and organisations addressing Domestic and Family Violence, they are often focused on providing support after the violence occurs. Fewer resources have been available for initiatives that aim to prevent violence from happening.
I started working in DFV after 15 years in the prison system. I felt I was working upstream where the violence had already occurred, and people’s lives had been destroyed. I really wanted to go downstream and better understand how we could prevent violence from occurring in the first place. We respond to crisis well, but we need to shift and shape our culture towards prevention if we’re going to improve outcomes..
Shaan Ross-Smith
Director, MATE Bystander Violence Prevention Program Griffith University
Solution
Empowering bystanders to recognise violence and safely intervene.
Telstra Purple built the ‘Be there’ app to empower bystanders to recognise the signs of violence and safely intervene (where possible) without overloading them with information. The app integrates DJAG’s insight, the DFV sector’s expert knowledge and experience and Griffith’s MATE violence prevention program, which actively raises awareness around how abuse is embedded in our culture through a range of training opportunities and events.
Build with accessibility and practicality in mind, the ‘Be there’ is compatible with both Android and iOS and is split into three pillars:
- Bite-sized, easy-to-digest information to help bystanders educate themselves, including articles from DFV experts and information to help assess situations.
- Activities and initiatives that prompt bystanders to safely and confidently intervene at the right time.
- Tools to keep bystanders engaged, with information to help provide mental and emotional support.
The approach
Innovative Co-Design: Shaping Bystander Empowerment.
Telstra Purple led an eight-week discovery engagement to understand and collaboratively design a digital concept and future vision for bystanders. Delivered 100% remotely and using a co-design methodology, Telstra Purple engaged with over 90 stakeholders and partners across the domestic violence sector, facilitated through existing relationships with DJAG and MATE bystanders.
The research highlighted significant nuance and complexities amongst bystanders. Traditional analysis has provided demographic frameworks to compartmentalise bystander cohorts but has fallen short in framing how they differ on behaviour and likelihood to safely intervene.
In response, Telstra Purple developed nine archetypes to classify these differing behaviours. These bystander ‘types’ are non-binary, inclusive, and focus on the interplay of intrinsic motivations and extrinsic barriers. They’re also dynamic, as one bystander might relate to multiple different archetypes at different stages of the process.
Conversations with bystanders and stakeholders guided every built into the app. If features received mixed feedback, Telstra Purple updated the application to address this, ultimately forging the most impactful and bystander-first approach possible.
The project gained full support and input from a variety of organisations, including the not-for-profit DFV sector in Queensland, such as DVConnect, national peak bodies, and the Queensland Police Service.
All of the partners were deeply committed to making a difference. Working together, we’ve produced a practical tool that will support people to take action.
Cynthia Kennedy
Director, Partnerships and Engagement Department of Justice and Attorney-General
The impact
The community and partners committed to making a difference.
Within the first few months since the ‘Be there’ app was launched, the response from bystanders and the community has been overwhelmingly positive.
It has a 4.5/5 rating on Apple’s App Store, with in-app feedback praising the way the app provides expert guidance and offers insight on appropriate, tangible actions.
Feedback has been especially positive in remote areas, with users noting there is no other service available in their locations.
The project has gained full support and input from a variety of organisations, including the not-for-profit DFV sector in Queensland, such as DVConnect, national peak bodies, and the Queensland Police Service.
Future aspirations:
Through regular engagement with the DFV community and by spreading the message far and wide, the app helps to empower bystanders to be someone who does something, which shifts culture and changes the world.
In the long term, the vision is to see a generational shift towards a Queensland free from domestic violence.
These are the kinds of projects that we love to be engaged with,” says Rod Sampera, Principal Consultant (Design) at Telstra Purple. “We started with a small idea, received the funding to develop it into something more tangible, and delivered support that people really needed.
The project has gained full support and input from a variety of organisations, including the not-for-profit DFV sector in Queensland, such as DVConnect, national peak bodies, and the Queensland Police Service.
We started with a small idea, received the funding to develop it into something more tangible, and delivered support that people really needed.
Rod Sampera
Principal Consultant (Design) Telstra Purple
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