Shovel Ready
Services
Campaign strategy, advocacy, communications
Location
Australia
THE PROJECT
A grassroots community campaign for 'every child': making school accessible for students with disabilities.
This campaign was driven by the belief that every child — regardless of ability — deserves a safe, inclusive, and high-quality learning environment. Our client wasn’t a traditional organisation, but the parents of students who attended a school with outdated, unsuitable facilities who refused to accept inequality as the status quo.
THE CHALLENGE
The school’s buildings were clearly outdated and not fit-for-purpose. Despite years of advocacy and the Department of Education already owning the land for a new facility, government funding had not been committed. Families felt unheard and unseen. The challenge was to bring renewed attention in a way that couldn’t be overlooked — and to visibly demonstrate the depth and strength of grassroots community support behind the call for a new, inclusive school.
THE SOLUTION
We launched a grassroots campaign led by mums with children at the school and built on a simple, powerful truth: that every child deserves a great school. We drew inspiration from the Education Minister’s own words — that funding would arrive “when the school is shovel ready”.
We turned this into a rallying cry and the ‘Shovel Ready’ campaign was born. We mobilised a passionate and vocal community that included parents, students, teachers, local businesses, councils, and schools. Hundreds of people posted photos holding shovels, signed shovels with messages of support, and publicly declared that the community was indeed “shovel ready”. Our local MP took our message to parliament. We made the invisible visible and, amongst others advocating for change, our role was to put the students and their families at the very centre of the conversation, not at the margins.
THE RESULTS
On 14 December 2017, the Victorian Government announced $14.6 million to build a new state-of-the-art school. Construction began in April 2018 and today students and staff enjoy a purpose-built, inclusive facility. When announcing the funding at the site of the new school — gold shovel in hand — the Education Minister acknowledged the overwhelming community support that had been built through the ‘Shovel Ready’ campaign.
Beyond the funding win, the campaign amplified the voices of students and families who are too often overlooked. We didn’t just help build a school — we helped build a community that showed what’s possible when truth, courage and collective action come together.
