South Burnett initiative champions fight against domestic violence

It's incredible how influential an egg-shaped ball can be on local communities in Queensland.

With rugby league being the glue that binds communities together - particularly in regional and remote areas, the state's number one sport is a powerful vehicle that can drive change, and that's exactly what has occurred in the South Burnett during the past five years. 

Murgon - the famous birthplace of Queensland Maroons greats Steve Renouf and Gavin Cooper, located 220 kilometres north west of Brisbane - has championed domestic violence awareness since 2016. 

Their year-on-year growth of their awareness program has attracted interest from Queensland Rugby League and the National Rugby League, and external stakeholders including the Queensland Police Service and Allison Baden-Clay Foundation. 

Their innovative commitment to improving their local community has earned the club the inaugural Auswide Bank Community Program of the Year honour.

What started as a day to spread the word about domestic violence has become one of the leading club-led programs in the state to tackle one of the country's most prevalent issues, according to Mustangs president Scott Prendergast.

"In 2016, it began as a partnership between Murgon and Cherbourg clubs to basically spread the word and raise awareness around domestic violence... it was a successful day but it was just a normal competition fixture between those two clubs," Prendergast said.

"In 2017, we moved to the nines format where it was a South Burnett-supported event where we made the games nine-a-side based on the Auckland Nines concept and conducted a competition.

"Stanwell Corporation also came on board as a major partner for the event.

"At the end of 2017 when the club won the grassroots club of the year, it put us face-to-face with a number of NRL people which opened a number of doors to be able to speak about our initiative in-person to those delegates.

"That gave us access to Alan Tongue, who was an NRL ambassador at the time... we were able to have pretty frank conversations with him about it and he jumped on board so in 2018, the Voice Against Violence program was run, which was highly successful and we went to a number of schools and clubs and at that stage was probably our biggest day.

"In 2019, we engaged with the QRL wellbeing team, who partnered with NRL game development officers to deliver a number of programs. That year, we also did a reading program with NRL and QPS – Blake Mara put that one together.

"In 2020, it was COVID-affected, which didn’t allow us to have a season, but that gave us a lot of time to plan for 2021 which through the assistance of QRL, we were able to source the Frank Fisher Cup game against the Queensland Police Service.

"We were also able to speak to Tonguey again and get him to bring out a new program which is called RESPECT, so we were able to target more schools – primary and secondary schools.

"We didn’t actually stop for the three days. It was a bit full on, but it was good.

"Gavin Cooper, our club hero, gave up his valuable time to come home and help promote the events, so we had two legends of the game as well as the Queensland Police and the inclusion of Vanessa Fowler who is a director of the Allison Baden-Clay Foundation."

The impact the initiative has had on not only Murgon, but the entire South Burnett community, has been extremely positive, accepting that domestic violence affects everyone and that's it's important to talk about it.

"What it’s done has raised the awareness because domestic violence affects every community," Prendergast said.

"Vanessa really reiterated that at one of our stakeholder meetings. It affects every community, but the work we've done for the Murgon Mustangs and the South Burnett community has made it okay to talk about it... and rugby league is so important to these country communities, so it’s really given it a voice.

"It’s a change in culture. We’ve had to change our culture to what’s acceptable in today’s society.

"For example, 30 years ago, the culture of drink driving is completely different to what it is now. We’ve matured and society has been educated to know that these types of things just aren’t acceptable anymore. 

"Using footy as a vehicle to get that message out there, it's very important for our community."

The continued advocation for change has put the club in lights by their peers across the state, with the Mustangs known as the go-to organisation for domestic violence education. 

"The Murgon club is now known as a strong domestic violence awareness club," Prendergast said.

"I know we have other ambassador-type clubs around the state like State of Mind clubs and I think although it may be self-appointed, everyone knows in our area that domestic violence awareness is so important to us.

"We have messaging on bollards and our shirts are emblazoned with it. It’s something that we want to champion and we’ve got a great group of people that are trying to achieve that change and that’s what makes it so special and that’s what make Murgon such a special club.

"Even the fact the Allison Baden-Clay Foundation has allowed us to be part of their program by have their logos on our merchandise... I think that is a great vote of confidence not just for Murgon, but for rugby league that such an established foundation wants to support our initiative.

"I think it’s certainly great for rugby league – a recognisable sport with a recognisable brand – to support and champion this community cause."

With discussions already underway for the rollout of their initiative in 2022, Murgon is hoping to build a new element to their education delivery to ensure the prevention message is continually being iterated. 

"The program will definitely continue and we'd actually like to see it spread wider... the game can reach a far greater audience than just South Burnett," Prendergast said.

"We really want to continue with our education programs and how we do. Next year we might look at another form of education amongst the schools to change it up.

"But it’s certainly going to continue and obviously we’ve spoke to o Vanessa and the Allison Baden-Clay Foundation and they’ll continue to contribute.

"Speaking with Vanessa, the aim is to follow up Tonguey's program with a message to continue reiterating the domestic violence prevention awareness.

"Obviously we can’t continue to do that right now, but it’s something that has been recognised and the follow-up element is something that is important and that’s why Murgon attempts to achieve that greater awareness all year round."

Receiving $2000 from Auswide Bank to help continue to grow their initiative, Auswide Bank chief customer officer Damian Hearne said programs like Murgon's domestic violence awareness significantly improved local communities.

“Auswide Bank is proud to partner with this year’s Community Program of the Year which recognises innovative community programs coordinated by clubs across the state," Hearne said.

"It is pleasing to see a number of local QRL clubs initiate programs that will significantly improve the outcomes for their local communities.

"The quality of the nominations was outstanding which made choosing a winner very difficult.

"Congratulations to the Murgon Mustangs who have grown their domestic violence awareness initiative to continue educating and bringing attention to such an important societal issue.”