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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-01 Daily Xml
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Brumfitt, Ms T.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. H.M. Girolamo:

That this council—

1. Congratulates Taryn Brumfitt, body image activist, director, writer and speaker on her 2023 Australian of the Year award;

2. Highlights the outstanding contribution Taryn has made to educating young people and their parents around the world to foster body positivity; and

3. Recognises the impact that body image has and how it can influence how we engage with our world.

(Continued from 8 February 2023.)

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (16:18): I rise to speak in support of the honourable member's motion on behalf of the government. We wish to wholeheartedly congratulate Taryn Brumfitt on her incredible work founding and leading the Body Image Movement since 2012.

South Australia was incredibly proud to see her announced as Australian of the Year this January. Born and raised in Adelaide, her Body Image Movement is headquartered here and has grown to reach millions across the world. Through educational resources, speeches, documentaries and three bestselling books, Ms Brumfitt aims to promote positive body image and combat toxic messaging in the media.

The Butterfly Foundation reports that a million Australians live with an eating disorder. A national survey undertaken in 2018 found that one in three Australians were unhappy with the way they looked. The results showed that we are placing immense pressure on ourselves to look a certain way. The psychological impacts of this pressure can be enormous. The survey also found that over 40 per cent of people are dissatisfied with how they look; 73 per cent of people wish they could change how they look; 66.6 per cent of people remember being bullied or teased for their appearance at some point in their life; and 41 per cent of people most of the time or always compare themselves to others on social media.

Many people are prevented from participating actively and fully in society due to the hatred they feel for the bodies they live in. The reality is that people who are overweight, who look different or are differently abled are not afforded the same considerations by our society as those who fit the standard of beauty. Often, society conflates beauty with goodness. This leads many to subconsciously ascribe positive attributes to those they deem beautiful and negative attributes to those who do not fit the norm. The impact of this over a lifetime is profound.

Ms Brumfitt's Body Image Movement aims to empower people to think differently about their bodies and in doing so embrace their lives fully. The role that advertising and media plays in teaching us to hate our bodies cannot be overstated. It is widely accepted that women's dissatisfaction with their bodies is exploited to become a major source of revenue for companies and corporations. Feelings of guilt, shame and anger towards our bodies are stoked from a young age for the profit of others. Seventy per cent of Australian kids cite body image as their number one concern.

As Australian of the Year, Ms Brumfitt is spending much of her time campaigning for greater resources to address body image issues amongst children and young people. For young people, the onslaught of online content telling them how they should feel about their bodies and how they should look can feel relentless. Researchers at Griffith University studying the impacts of image-centric videos on young people, found that watching seven minutes of what is called 'beauty content' on TikTok and Instagram is enough for young people to experience significant shame and anxiety about their appearance.

Growing up can be hard enough for kids. We do not need to teach them to be hating their bodies too. Ms Brumfitt's Embrace Kids program focuses on combating this societal problem. The program works to improve general health, nutrition and psychological wellbeing, enhance media literacy and reduce teasing and bullying in schools. This program also helps parents and teachers to sit down and have meaningful discussions with their kids. If we can change the way young people think about their bodies, hopefully those lessons can last a lifetime. At the very least, Ms Brumfitt's programs counteract a damaging media narrative fed to our young people.

Your body sustains you through your life. To waste time and energy hating the very thing that sustains us is a fate we should want to spare as many in our society from as possible. As Ms Brumfitt herself said, 'It is not our life's purpose to be at war with our bodies. Your body is not an ornament, it's a vehicle to achieve your dreams.'

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:23): I rise to speak with some pleasure today on behalf of the Greens in support of this motion and to shed light on the remarkable achievements of the 2023 Australian of the Year, Taryn Brumfitt. She is an Adelaide-born body image activist. Taryn went viral—as they say—in 2013 after posting what is seen to be an unconventional before-and-after photograph on social media, capturing the attention and hearts of millions. The viral image depicted her transformation from a bikini competition-ready physique to one that embraced curves and self-acceptance. The photograph sparked a global movement and empowered individuals to love and embrace their bodies, irrespective of societal norms or unrealistic expectations. She said:

Which is crazy in itself, right? A woman learns to embrace her body, and it becomes headline news in most countries around the world.

Using the momentum of that viral photo, Taryn extended her advocacy to recognising the profound impact that media and advertising have on body image perceptions. She directed and produced a powerful documentary called Embrace. Through intimate interviews and personal stories, Taryn exposed the damaging consequences of body shaming and inspired viewers to redefine beauty on their own terms. That film resonated deeply with audiences, sparking a dialogue about body image and prompting individuals to question and challenge the existing standards of beauty.

Taryn has worked extensively with young people particularly and recognises the vulnerability and impressionability of adolescents who are facing the pressures of continued access to social media, on top of all the other pressures of adolescence itself. She runs workshops and public speaking engagements—empowering opportunities—which have impacted on countless individuals to develop healthy relationships with their bodies and to prioritise self-love over self-criticism by promoting body positivity and self-care. She has instilled a sense of resilience and confidence in young minds and has taught people to move, nourish and respect their bodies.

I had the pleasure of meeting Taryn at a Hutt Street Centre fundraising lunch, I believe it was, a few years ago. She is quite an extraordinary woman who has taken a very simple thing that has a profound impact on so many in our society and turned it into an incredibly positive movement. Taryn's achievements remind us all that true beauty lies in self-acceptance, self-love and the ability to celebrate the diversity that exists within each and every one of us.

She is a very deserving winner of the 2023 Australian of the Year Award. On behalf of the Greens, I certainly congratulate her for that.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (16:26): I rise to support this motion for Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt, whom I met at a Little Heroes Foundation and Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation event. The event covered the Embrace Kids initiative, with the aim of implementing the program for one million children over the coming year, with the hope of embedding this program into the school curriculum in the future.

The initiative centres around body image, the number one concern for Australian youth, regardless of gender. It was upsetting to learn that 77 per cent of young Australian adults report body distress, they are 24 times more likely to develop depression and anxiety if they have body image distress, the rate of eating disorders from 2019 has doubled amongst five year olds to 12 year olds, and the annual cost to our economy from eating disorders is $84 billion.

As the mother of three children, this issue resonates deeply with me. I firmly believe that equipping our children with the tools to navigate and overcome body image challenges is a moral imperative and an investment in their future wellbeing. Skills build confidence and self-acceptance, and that is why children in our most socio-economically disadvantaged areas should have the opportunity to engage in extracurricular programs like music and sport.

Body positivity in young people is very important, and I am dedicated and committed to improving the wellbeing of young children and adolescents in Australia. With the Embrace Kids initiative's aim to reach a million children through the integration of this program into the school curriculum, I am very hopeful that it will improve current shortfalls.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:28): I rise to indicate our support for this motion, and I thank the Hon. Ms Girolamo for bringing it before us. In so doing, I echo the sentiments expressed by other honourable members, not only in relation to the 2023 Australian of the Year Award accolades that Ms Brumfitt has received but also, importantly, in relation to everything else that she has managed to achieve and the impacts that has particularly on young girls and women. I am sure we all know that young girls and women from a very young age find themselves struggling with body image issues, so it is this sort of influence they need in their lives.

The only other thing I would add in addition to the amazing work that Ms Brumfitt does is that I would also like to acknowledge comedian Celeste Barber. I am a huge fan of Ms Barber. Not only does she provide us with endless entertainment in terms of her social media posts but the message that she sends to women and young girls is in the same vein as that of Ms Brumfitt. I think, if anything, she also shows us that you can actually see the funny side of this—funny side in a positive way, not in a negative way. I think she does an exceptional job at doing that.

With those words, I indicate our support for the motion, I commend the member for bringing it before the house and, again, I echo the sentiments of everyone who spoke on this motion today.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (16:30): I very much thank all honourable members for their contribution and their support for this motion. It is a pleasure to be able to highlight the achievements of Ms Taryn Brumfitt and also to recognise her for her great achievement as South Australian of the year and Australian of the Year. I think it is a wonderful area that she is focusing on around positive body image, and I look forward to being able to collate everyone's responses and communicate the support from right across the different parties here in this house. I thank everyone for their support.

Motion carried.

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