by Marcus Priaulx
The TV ads made by Cherbourg and South Burnett children to encourage parents to send them to school every day has won high praise from around the country.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion rang Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council’s CEO Warren Collins recently to congratulate him on the effort.
The Federal Government has used the ads to support its Remote Schools Strategy in 40 areas and early indications showed student attendance is up 14 per cent at those schools.
Schools within the same viewing areas that don’t have the strategy in place have also recorded an attendance leap. The only explanation has been the ads.
However, funds for their continued broadcasting of the TV ads are running dry.
Most TV stations are running the ads as Community Service announcements, alongside paid spots, but Mr Collins is concerned the commercials won’t have their intended long-lasting, widespread affect unless a fully fledged advertising campaign can continue.
“We need to have as many eyes see these ads as many times as possible to ensure their message hits home,” Mr Collins said.
“We believe a golden opportunity could be lost and comments from around Australia back our belief in the power these ads could have.”
These include one from a school truancy officer called Erin: “What a powerful tool to promote an important message. Excellent work. Well thought out and straight to the point. Awesome. If only we could get this on all TV channels.”
Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council’s www.educationdreams.com.au website has been built to assist crowd funding for the campaign.
Two of the three ads can be seen on this, along with an open letter to the people of Australia, the reasoning behind the ads and the education stories of actress-writer Leah Purcell and former rugby league star Steven Renouf.
“We believe anybody with a vested interest in Australia’s better future would at least donate a dollar to the cause by using the website’s PayPal icon,” Mr Collins said.
“Many hands will make light work and we believe a golden opportunity is being missed unless we can attract the necessary sponsorship to have all families within Australia view these ads as many times as possible.
“They were made free-of-charge, the TV stations have been very supportive, and we want to honour the effort of everyone involved by having all of Australia benefit.”
The ads were made by Melbourne’s international award director John Lyons, world-class cinematographer Wayne Aistrope, colourist Chris Reynolds, actress-writer Leah Purcell and former football star and Aurizon Rail and Freight’s Indigenous Strategy Manager Steven Renouf, and feature South Burnett school children.
“We just want people to know all of our future starts today,” Mr Collins said.
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