Content warning: The following information discusses family violence and lived experiences of abuse, which may be distressing. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000 (Australia) or local emergency services. Support is available via 1800RESPECT (1800 806 292).
The context
The Polished Man campaign raises awareness of child sexual abuse by encouraging people to take visible action and start conversations that are often avoided.
To deepen this impact, the campaign sought to centre lived experience moving beyond awareness messaging to create a more personal and confronting understanding of abuse and its long-term effects.
The challenge
Awareness campaigns can struggle to move beyond surface-level engagement.
The challenge was to share a survivor’s story in a way that was authentic and led by lived experience, respectful of the subject matter, and able to engage a broad audience without sensationalising trauma.
Commissioned as the centrepiece film for the Myer Charity Ball, with Polished Man as the year's beneficiary, and to anchor a parallel social media campaign, the piece had to do two jobs: hold a live, paying audience emotionally, and land in 30-to-60-second cut-downs on a public feed. It needed a story that would resonate, reduce stigma around disclosure, and encourage people to engage more deeply with the issue.
Our approach
Portable produced a documentary-style film featuring Brayden, an LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion consultant, Polished Man ambassador and survivor of child sexual abuse, in conversation with chef and ambassador Jock Zonfrillo.
The storytelling approach prioritised honesty and restraint.
- Lived experience at the centre ensured the story was led by Brayden’s voice and perspective
- Conversational interview format created a sense of openness and trust, allowing the story to unfold naturally
- An ambassador-to-ambassador conversation format, pairing chef Jock Zonfrillo with Brayden, both Polished Man ambassadors, established a peer dynamic that built trust on camera and reduced the dynamic of survivor-as-subject.
Rather than dramatising the issue, the film focused on clarity and connection—allowing audiences to engage with the reality of abuse through a personal lens.
The impact
The film strengthened the Polished Man campaign by grounding it in lived experience. It helped:
- humanise the issue of child sexual abuse
- encourage more open conversations
- support broader engagement with the campaign and its message
The film grounded the Polished Man campaign in a survivor's own words, and gave the Myer Charity Ball audience a story that translated awareness into recognition. It humanised the issue of child sexual abuse, demonstrated the role campaigning can play as a pathway to disclosure, and broadened engagement with Polished Man among both donors and the wider community.
In memoriam: Jock Zonfrillo, who appears in this film, passed away in May 2023. Portable remains grateful for his generosity in lending his voice to Brayden's story and to the Polished Man campaign.
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