Apowerful new What Kind of Man Do You Want to Be? campaign was officially launched at Footscray Community Arts Centre today, putting multicultural voices at the centre of conversations around masculinity and family violence.
The event, held during Cultural Diversity Week, brought together community leaders, government representatives and campaign participants, all united around a simple but confronting question: What kind of man do you want to be?
Opening the event, Polaron General Manager Belle Kwan said the campaign – delivered in partnership with Polaron Connect – had been “a long time in the making” and deeply personal.
“This campaign is not just professional, it is deeply personal,” she said. “Those pressures exist for many men and they can have painful consequences. That is why this campaign matters.”
The launch began with a Welcome to Country by Wurundjeri man Uncle Thane Garvey, who spoke about responsibility, resilience and the importance of learning from one another.
“As a man, I also want to speak about responsibility,” he said. “I’ve learned that it is our responsibility to create safe spaces for women, children and our communities. That takes work. It takes growth. It takes education.”
Victorian Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Multicultural Affairs, Ingrid Stitt, said the campaign was about encouraging men to reflect and learn from each other.
“This campaign is about men listening and learning from each other. It asks a powerful question: what kind of man do you want to be?”
She said the multicultural campaign was designed to reach diverse communities in ways that felt authentic and relevant.
“It features in-language content and has been co-designed with communities — ensuring authenticity and relevance,” she said.
The campaign includes stories from 14 Victorian men across five languages, sharing personal experiences of masculinity, vulnerability and change.
Kwan, who also shared her own experience as a survivor of family violence, said the response from participants had been overwhelming. “When we reached out to men across communities, the response was extraordinary. So many were willing to share their stories with honesty and vulnerability,” she said, adding, “I am incredibly proud of everyone who contributed, especially the men who said yes. This is what courage looks like.”
Respect Victoria CEO Helen Bolton said the campaign challenges traditional ideas of masculinity and highlights the power of storytelling.
“There is no single way to be a man — masculinity is not universal,” she said. “Storytelling is powerful. It helps shift norms and create change.”
A key feature of the campaign is its community-led approach, with contributors involved in shaping the message from the ground up.
Campaign consultant Desiree Bensley said the project encourages men to reflect on the pressures they face and how those pressures shape their behaviour.
“This campaign is asking men… to reflect,” she said. “What are these pressures? How do they show up in my life? How do they help me, and how do they restrict me?”
She said the campaign goes beyond pointing out harmful behaviour, instead showing what healthier masculinity can look like. “It is not enough to only hear what we do not want masculinity to look like. We also need to see what it does look like when it’s healthy… and true to yourself.”
Creative director Sam Biddle said real change will require more than just campaigns, but emphasised the importance of representation.
“We know that to end men’s violence, it is going to take more of this — more men modelling better behaviour to other men,” he said.
Polaron founder Eva Hussain said the campaign’s strength lay in its “care-design” approach — working with communities rather than speaking for them.
“We wanted to engage men and ask them what the solutions are, rather than tell them what we were going to do,” she said.
“When communities tell you how to fix something, listen. We are over-consulted to death.”
As the campaign rolls out online, organisers hope it sparks honest conversations across households, communities and cultures.
“This is only the beginning of the journey,” Hussain said. “We now have something that people can see and say — yes, that’s me, that’s my community, that’s something we need to talk about.”
The campaign videos are available online, with the full set of stories featuring 14 Victorian men rolling out in coming weeks.
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