Effective communications campaigns

Creating and using fact sheets for Smart Justice

Michelle McDonnell - Senior Policy Advisor

The Smart Justice project

•Coalition of legal and community groups.

•Promoting a greater focus on cost effective evidence based crime prevention by addressing the real causes of crime.

•Respect for human rights.

Impact of our fact sheets

•Highly effective resource base.

•Synthesizing complex research into well referenced, evidence based, accessible two pagers.

•Promoted and used by 25 partners and CLCs.

•Topical, up to date analysis on justice issues for multiple audiences.

Creating our fact sheets•Initial issue testing- level of awareness.

•Extensive + lengthy revision process: expert review, feedback, more updating.

•Editing every word that’s not necessary: 1,200 words with references.

•Plain English: checking every phrase- clearly understood? Non technical. Testing.

•Good visual layout: logos, mast-head, tagline-easily identified as a Smart Justice publication.

•Brief abstract.

•Engaging style with a solutions focus.

•Plan for promoting factsheets.

Using and promoting our fact sheets•Media: Effective backgrounder + developing media release.

•Social media: responding with ‘solutions’ on Twitter. Facebook, too.

•Engaging politicians.

•Referencing and reproducing.

•Submissions.

•Coalition.

•Website and web hits.

•Newsletter.

Contact Smart Justice

•Website: www.smartjustice.org.au

•Twitter: @SmartJusticeAus and @SmartJusticeYP

•Email: michelle.mcdonnell@fclc.org.au

•Phone: 03 9652 1507.