Media Release by The Hon Christian Porter MP

SA entrepreneurs team up to keep women safe

Joint Media Release with:

  • Gail Gago MLC, South Australian Minister for the Status of Women

Three teams of South Australian digital entrepreneurs will share in up to $60,000 grant funding to develop high-tech programs that help prevent violence against women.

The teams pitched the best ideas at last night’s D3 Digital Challenge pitch night – a program where entrepreneurs are encouraged to “discuss, design and deliver” innovative solutions to longstanding social issues.

The winning entries were:

  • ASMS Innovators (a group of year 10 and 11 students from the Australian Science and Mathematics School), for their Choose Your Own Adventure pitch – an app tailored towards 4-18 year olds helping young South Australians understand the consequences of different behavioural decisions;
  • Cartland Law, for their ALIRA (Automated Legal Information Research Assistant) pitch – a Siri-like program that can empower women with information on domestic violence law; and
  • Technology for Women’s Safety, for their Snapshot Digital Tool Box pitch – a digital toolkit to support women who are in abusive relationships.

South Australian Minister for the Status of Women Gail Gago congratulated the winning entrants.

“It’s important all South Australians work together to send a clear message that we will not tolerate any form of violence against women,” Ms Gago said.

“While there are already a range of programs in place to support women who are either at risk, or have been victims of violence, we need to strive to find innovative ways to end this scourge.

“Through the D3 Digital Challenge, entrepreneurs hear from members of the community with first-hand knowledge of the issue before developing their own digital solutions.

“Each team taking part in this round of the challenge is to be commended for their commitment to ending violence against women, and I congratulate all of the winning entries for their creative approach to this very serious issue.”

In congratulating the winners, Federal Minister for Social Services Christian Porter acknowledged the importance of exploring new options to protect women, including innovative technologies.

“The D3 Digital Challenge for keeping women safe is part of the $12 million technology trials, which were announced as part of the Commonwealth Government’s $100 million Women’s Safety Package,” Mr Porter said.

“I congratulate not only the winners of the D3 Digital Challenge, but also the ICT sector for its strong support of this project.

“It reminds us that we can all play a part in reducing violence against women and their children.

“One in six Australian women has experienced violence from a current or former partner. We are finally seeing all sorts of communities saying ‘enough’.”

The winning entries will share in the $60,000 in grant funding provided by the Commonwealth Government to further develop their ideas.

Early in the New Year, the winners will present a prototype and develop a proposal for funding.

For more information on the D3 Digital Challenge, visit http://www.yoursay.sa.gov.au/initiatives/d3-digital-challenge