Australia – Not much has been known about the offshore detention centres hosted by the Australian government and the numerous atrocities it has committed–as the freedom to document these realities has long been taken away from reporters and journalists. With that being said, how can those who suffered prove in court said injustices?

Enter social justice law firm Maurice Blackburn, who has worked alongside Australian creative agency Howatson+Company, to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to create the first visual evidence of Australian-initiated atrocities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru–as told by those who survived in these detention centres.

To make this possible, the law firm has recorded more than 300 hours of interviews conducted with survivors of offshore detention, putting on record the injustices they faced. Together with AI technicians, the survivors then generated the first ever visual evidence of their experiences. From the colour of the tents to the subjects’ expressions, every detail was made as accurately as possible.

The law firm has also worked with Mridula Amin, three-time Walkley photojournalism award winner, who has remarked that this project is one of the first applications of AI that she has seen with an ethical purpose at its heart.

“When watching the images being created, it was incredible to see the level of detail and care taken, and the multiple prompts required to produce an as accurate depiction of the witness statements as possible, including working with the witnesses themselves,” Amin said.

Aside from creating a special campaign site, the images and statements have also been compiled into a book, and displayed at a powerful exhibition held in the Immigration Museum in Melbourne, created by installation artist James Dive of Scoundrel.

The evidence has been further shared with the public through OOH and social media, whilst the images have been uploaded to editorial site Shutterstock to sit alongside photojournalism.

For Jennifer Kanis, principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, these witness statements and images shine a light on a dark chapter of Australian history, adding that they bear witness to the unimaginable inhumanity experienced by the women, men and children incarcerated over many years.

“Along with our clients, it’s our hope that this collection of witness statements and the associated AI images serve as a permanent record and an urgent case for change to Australians and our government,” Kanis said.

Meanwhile, Gavin Chimes, executive creative director at Howatson+Company, commented, “It was a humbling and harrowing experience to work one-on-one with survivors of offshore detention. Nearly a year in the making, we took the utmost care to ensure their experiences were accurately depicted, with some images taking weeks to complete.” 

He added, “On behalf of Howatson+Company, we thank Maurice Blackburn and more importantly their clients, whose stories can now be told for the first time, and in a new way. We hope Exhibit A-i contributes to genuine hope for change on what has been a dark and horrific time in Australian history.”

Sydney, Australia – In a bid to boost vaccination endeavors across the country, the Advertising Council Australia, alongside consulting firm Accenture and creative agency The Monkeys, is releasing a public service campaign, which looks back at the numerous events and instances in Australia’s history that Australians have conquered or passed through.

The 60-second campaign showcases both the positive and the negative events in history that have shaped Australia’s resilience against these hindrances or challenges. Enclosed in the campaign are snippets of how Australians have conquered natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, drought as well as the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2008, and championed innovations which include the cochlear implant to overcome deafness, and in the case of Fred Hollows, treat avoidable blindness.

For Tony Hale, CEO at Advertising Council Australia, there is great momentum for vaccination but more needs to be done as part of a concerted push to boost double vaccination rates to the levels and within the timeframe needed.

“As part of a call to arms, we need to bring those who are uncertain about vaccination on board and get the last leg of double vaccinations underway in a bid to reach a minimum of 80% so we can open the country up as quickly as possible,” Hale stated.

Meanwhile, Mark Green, co-founder and group CEO at The Monkey and lead at Accenture Interactive ANZ, commented that by watching the campaign, he reflected that it is important to look back and reflect on all of the challenges we have overcome as a nation, as Many Australians have been greatly affected by the pandemic and in these difficult times.

“As part of this fantastic collaboration, I’m proud of our industry for coming together to encourage all Australians to prioritize vaccination. With one final push, let’s apply our fighting spirit to this pandemic – if we all get vaccinated, we can beat this challenge too,” Green added.

Said campaign has also seen the support of the shareholders of the Premium Content Alliance namely Foxtel, News Corp, Nine, Seven West Media and 10; to which they donated media for the campaign.

“This initiative is the best way for us to do our part in encouraging all Australians to get vaccinated. The reach of our shareholders will ensure the campaign is seen by millions who will watch, hear, read and remember what can be accomplished when we come together as a country,” Kim Portrate, CEO at Premium Content Alliance, stated.

Vaccination campaign efforts have been rampant across Asia-Pacific, with organizations such as the Business Council of Australia, and brands like Agoda, Grab, and TikTok Singapore encouraging their followers to get vaccinated already.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – It has become undeniable in recent times that most people have shifted their work setup from a physical workspace in the office to work-from-home (WFH). And while many people enjoyed it at first, it became evident that the majority of industries locally and globally are feeling the brunt of WFH, now being more than a norm and disrupting daily lives.

Such a status quo of the WFH sector has pushed the International Advertising Association (IAA) Malaysia to launch a new campaign in the form of a public service announcement explaining three pointers to consider about the state of the WFH setup, and spreading awareness about the toll the WFH setup does to numerous people in terms of the their overall being.

Led by IAA Malaysia Honorary Secretary, Prabha Nayar, a strategist and creative director, the three pointers are as follows: trigger on mental health, with most having no idea on what constitutes mental health; a dent on relationship, whether between partners, spouses, siblings, parents and children, even entire families, all from space and time encroachment; and a habit of and an expectation on working beyond the standard 9 to 5 or eight hours. 

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“With the pandemic playing on people’s minds, IAA Malaysia took the thought process deeper, further and focussed on the work-from-home syndrome. The end line, ‘A call to all to make compassion a way of work’ cannot be more apt,” Nayar stated.

The creative development can be used in various mediums, including, print, poster, out-of-home and animated GIFs in social media. 

John Chacko, president of IAA Malaysia cites previous global IAA projects to be the inspiration of their latest work, including those of IAA India’s ‘The World Needs A Breather’ campaign, where it gained extensive editorial attention and social media traction.

“The ‘Compassion’ campaign is an unfunded non-commercial public service initiative by IAA Malaysia. It is a proactive outreach to highlight the human truths behind Work-from-Home. The campaign not only resonates in every global market, but it is also easily translated into a local language, while retaining the full concept and message,” Chacko stated.