Safer Spaces

Safer spaces statement

We invite you to reflect on this document and we welcome any feedback. We don't want this to be a restrictive set of 'rules' and we won’t and can't monitor your behaviour continuously throughout the camp. We want to create a safe, inclusive and participatory camp – and believe that the possibilities for civil disobedience and social change are enhanced by this. We realise that guidelines and boundaries work best when those affected are involved in creating them.

Thanks for listening to us.

The Camp for Climate Action is a 6 day information sharing and direct action camp. We hope the camp is an example of the low emissions, friendly, supportive society that we want to live in. This statement describes our attempt at creating that society for the duration of the camp.

Our strength relies on all of our active participation in existing tasks and in building the future. We aim for all camp participants to have equal input in decision-making and equal responsibility for all our well-being.

This land is Kattung land. We recognise the sovereignty of the Kattung people and will stand alongside them in their struggles for sovereignty, land justice, human rights, a safe environment and a strong culture. We ask that all camp participants listen to the induction by local sovereign elders when they arrive at the camp.

The Camp for Climate Action aims to be an example of the society we want to live in. This may involve:
being as sustainable as possible in our consumption of resources such as water, electricity and food.
caring for each other
respecting meeting processes and camp agreements
basic courtesy and clearing up after ourselves.

This is a non-violent direct action (NVDA) camp. NVDA is an important part of the struggle for social and environmental justice and covers a multitude of tactics. Part of the philosophy of non- violence is to actively oppose the violence and destruction that is created by our political system and our society. We recognise that NVDA means different things to different people and this will be explored further through NVDA workshops running throughout the camp.

Community groups in the Hunter Valley have been campaigning on climate change issues for a number of years and have worked hard to establish relationships with local communities, workers, media and police. We ask that all actions during the camp take this work into account and aim to help these campaigns succeed.

The camp is organised non-hierarchically and will use consensus decision-making wherever possible. This is a facilitated process that starts with proposals, hears all the ideas, queries and objections to them and aims for an outcome everyone can agree to. This can be difficult, but we believe it is an important part of creating a fairer society. There will be workshops on consensus running during the camp.

There is a kids' area where kids' activities will be running during the main workshop and forum sessions. You can see the kids' activities program at http://www.climatecamp.org.au/childrens-activities-camp.

If you have any medical/ access needs please contact us and we'll try to accommodate them.

Most of the camp is designated dry space where we agree not to drink, take drugs or be under the influence. We also prioritise people's need to sleep at night.

Taking protest action, while often uplifting and exhilarating, can take its toll emotionally. There will be a quiet space that you can go to any time you need to during the camp, just to take some time, talk to someone about your experiences or be alone. To help people at the camp look after each other, we also encourage and offer to help you organise into groups to take actions together. You’ll see them referred to as Action Teams.

The grievance collective exists to help make the camp safe for everyone, by mediating conflicts, responding to serious incidents and making sure there are volunteers at the kids' space and quiet space at all times. If you would like to volunteer in either of these areas please contact us on info[at]climatecamp.org.au. Please note that there are procedures in place to deal with serious incidents. If you see or are involved in a conflict during the camp please let us know so we can help.

We see the struggle for a sustainable future as linked to many other movements for social justice. All inequalities and injustices in our society work against our many positive efforts to make change. To further explore the effects that power, privilege and prejudice have on our lives there will be Anti Oppression workshops running during the camp.


Media access
A free and independent media is crucial for a transparent and accountable community. For this reason, the media will be allowed access to the camp, and representatives from various forms of media have indicated they will come to the camp. Please be respectful to people from the media, as you would be to anyone else at the camp. The principles of mutual respect and safety apply to everyone. If you are approached by a journalist, and do not wish to answer questions, just say so politely and move away, or direct them to the media tent and one of the nominated spokespeople. If you feel upset by something that a media representative has done, please ask them their name and the outlet they represent, and report the incident to the grievance team. The media team from the camp organising collective will be liaising continuously with the media and will feedback if necessary. You can ask for your photo not to be taken, and for video recordings not to be made of you, but there is no law against taking pictures and footage of people in public places, like climate camp. If you do not wish to be part of a picture, just move discretely away.