OUR STORY
A movement shaped by young people, strengthened by role models, guided by evidence, and grounded in community.
WHAT IS PRIMARY PREVENTION?
Primary prevention is about creating positive cultures where the risk of gendered violence doesn’t arise in the first place. Instead of waiting for harm, crisis or warning signs, primary prevention focuses on the underlying conditions that shape how people relate to one another - the beliefs, expectations, norms and everyday behaviours that influence attitudes from childhood through adulthood.
At the core of primary prevention is the commitment to address the underlying drivers of family and domestic violence, particularly the attitudes and social norms that stem from gender inequality. These include rigid ideas about masculinity and femininity, power imbalances, stereotypes that limit boys’ and girls’ emotional worlds, and cultural norms that normalise disrespect or aggression.
Our Watch, Change the Story (2021)
While early intervention often focuses on identifying ‘red flags’ or responding to emerging patterns, primary prevention moves even further upstream. It works with the whole population - not just those who are at immediate risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence. It means trusting that everyone has a part to play - that real prevention comes from many small shifts across a whole community, not one group acting alone.
Primary prevention is long-term work. It is cultural work. It is relational work. It is complex because it asks communities to rethink patterns that have existed for generations. Yet it is also deeply hopeful. Evidence from Australia and around the world shows that changing the social conditions surrounding gender, identity and relationships can dramatically reduce violence over time.
Working in the primary prevention space is difficult but necessary. It can feel slow. It can feel challenging. It can feel like swimming against the tide. But it matters - because violence is preventable. When we broaden narrow gender stereotypes, strengthen positive role modelling, support men and boys to express a full range of emotions, and promote relationships built on respect and equality, we build safer homes, safer communities and safer futures.
This is Manly sits firmly within this prevention approach. By helping young people and role models explore healthier versions of masculinity, we’re addressing one of the most impactful drivers of long-term cultural change. Every conversation, every story, every honest moment is part of shifting the conditions in which boys grow up, and part of building a future free from gendered violence.
DRIVER 3
Rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity.
DRIVER 4
Male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.
DRIVER 2
Men's control of decision-making and limits to women's independence in public and private life.
DRIVER 1
Condoning of women's violence against women.
THE CO-DESIGN OF THIS IS MANLY
This is Manly began with a simple principle: Young people have the knowledge, experience and desire to act as agents of change in social challenges - in fact, they are essential. Instead of producing a campaign for young people, we partnered with young people as the creative directors of their own story. With support from the Department of Communities, Western Australia and guided by a youth co-design team, a group of 15- to 21-year-olds led the way on unpacking what masculinity feels like today.
The co-design process started with a deep dive into evidence, lived experience and expert insight. Together, the youth team unpacked the gendered drivers of violence, how attitudes form in adolescence, and the role that everyday environments - family homes, clubs, schools, online spaces and peer groups - play in shaping identity. A strong theme began to emerge: the traditional models of teaching young people about gender and respect weren’t landing. Campaigns and school programs often failed to feel relatable or real, and young people wanted something that reflected their experiences, not adult assumptions.
Early workshops mapped the sources of influence in young people’s lives. Social media mattered, but it wasn’t the strongest force. What continued to have the deepest impact were the everyday men around them: dads, brothers, uncles, teachers, coaches and older peers. These role models shaped how boys carried themselves, how they handled emotions, how they approached conflict, and what they saw as acceptable within relationships. Young people described masculinity as something learned through observation and environment - not just from what they’re told, but from what they see, overhear and live. One of the pivotal insights was about the different ways young people are exposed to messaging, the interactions they occur during, the moments that click, and the points of time and place our intervention could make the biggest impact.
With this insight, the youth team shifted from research into creative development. They worked alongside designers, filmmakers and photographers to develop the tone, visual direction and storytelling approach for the first campaign. Their priorities were clear: the campaign needed to feel grounded, human and familiar. It needed to show real people, not stylised versions of masculinity. And it needed to open up more room for individuality, humour, softness and emotional expression without feeling preachy or driven by shame.
Over multiple co-design sessions, young people shaped everything from which images felt authentic, to what kinds of messages felt shareable, to how masculinity should be framed in a way that felt inviting rather than confrontational. They challenged anything that felt inauthentic or tokenistic. They brought personal experience, cultural nuance and local knowledge to the work, ensuring that the final creative direction reflected the lives and realities of Western Australian young people.
The campaign that emerged - This is Manly - was firmly grounded in their vision. It offered a broader, more honest depiction of masculinity and it laid the foundation for the next phase of the movement: focusing not only on the experiences of young people, but also on the influence of the men around them.
The youth co-design process didn’t just shape a campaign - it set the philosophy for the entire project. By working with young people as creators rather than receivers, the campaign reflects the world they want to grow up in: one where masculinity is expansive, respectful and grounded in genuine human connection.
THIS IS MANLY: THIS IS AN INFLUENCER
During the design phase for This is Manly, a powerful insight emerged: young people consistently pointed to the everyday men in their lives as their most significant influences. These men were shaping how boys handled friendships, how they expressed emotion, how they viewed gender roles, and how they understood respect - not through formal conversations, but through everyday interactions.
With this groundwork in place, we brought together a design team that represented different parts of the system surrounding boys and men including community role models, practitioners in primary prevention and men’s mental health, educators, and academics. The co-design process became not only a place to think creatively about a wicked systemic problem, but also a place for cross-sector learning, connecting practitioners with community role models in a way that strengthened relationships across the emerging prevention landscape.
"It is easier to move a generation than it is to move a man."
“It’s changing that chat not to be ‘You're a wild animal that needs to be tamed’ but rather ‘You've been tricked into thinking you're nothing but a wild animal.’"
With this insight, This is an Influencer began with a deliberate period of listening to these role models. We carried out a series of interviews and focus groups with a broad mix of men and practitioners. This included community role models with lived experience, Aboriginal leaders, men who were new to these kinds of conversations, frontline workers in primary prevention and men’s mental health, and experts in their field. These conversations gave us a grounded understanding of the pressures men carry, the expectations they grew up with, and the moments where they influence young people or were influenced - sometimes intentionally, sometimes without realising it.
Men described the pressures they grew up with, the expectations they internalised, and the ways they were trying to adapt in a rapidly changing world. Some spoke about struggling to find a balance between strength and vulnerability. Others reflected on wanting to be more open or emotionally present, but not knowing where to begin. Many expressed that while they wanted to influence positively, they sometimes lacked the tools, language or confidence.
What emerged from this collective thinking was an intervention designed to sit meaningfully within the system rather than operate as a standalone message; A campaign designed to honour the genuine everyday positive influence men have in the lives of others; A suite of practical digital resources that are open-sourced and available to everyday men and professionals alike; and a wider community activation movement that brings role models together to empower change in their circles. By valuing their lived experience and giving them accessible ways to engage, the project helps men see the influence they already hold and the possibilities they have to model something healthier for the next generation.
In doing so, it extends the philosophy of This is Manly — that prevention begins with connection, and that cultural change is built not through grand gestures, but through the small, everyday actions shared between people who care about each other.