PACT

At PACT, our volunteers give something that’s invaluable. Their time, their support, and their commitment to every victim and witness navigating our criminal justice system.

But behind every volunteer, there are resources that make this support possible.

This end of financial year, we're inviting you to be part of what we do, in a different way.

Your donation could help provide a Courage Kit for a child facing one of the hardest days of their life. Books that help young victims and witnesses understand what their court looks like. Travel costs so our volunteers can reach people in regional Queensland. Training for the growing number of PACT volunteers.

Every dollar goes directly to the people who need it most.

Swipe to see what your donation could do. Then follow the link in comments to give before 30 June.

Thank you 💛

We are so grateful to the incredible team at SOCO (soco.com.au), a multi award winning IT consultancy, who has been a brilliant partner to us, helping streamline our data, creating efficiencies, and building our very own intranet, ImPACT.

SOCO recently made an extremely generous donation of $925 to PACT (we're choosing to think of this as a 40 Year Anniversary Gift 🎁🧡)

Thank you SOCO. Your generosity means the world to us and the people we support. We are so proud to call you partners and friends.

💛 Feeling inspired? You can make a tax-deductible donation to PACT before 30 June and make a real difference to victims and witnesses of crime. Every dollar counts!

👉 https://pact.org.au/donate/

🎬 We may have discovered not one… but two future stars this week!

11-year-old Daisy and 15-year-old Xavi joined us on set to help bring some important training scenarios to life. Both delivered incredibly powerful, realistic performances.

Daisy fully committed to her role as a scared and overwhelmed young person, capturing nervous energy and emotion beautifully before delivering a dramatic exit that left a real impact. Off camera, she kept things light by enjoying the marshmallows and chocolate biscuits between takes. Always making sure to squeeze in one more before filming resumed!

Xavi took on the role of an anxious young person struggling to engage, portraying the quieter side of anxiety (the avoidance, minimal responses and discomfort) with impressive realism. Even during more intense scenes, he stayed completely in character and showed great maturity. He also pointed out one of the perks of filming… a day off school.

A huge thank you to both Daisy and Xavi for bringing such authenticity, confidence and personality to the shoot. They’ve helped us create some incredibly valuable training content. We think they both have very bright futures ahead! 🎬

🎬 Move over Hollywood … we've got our own star in the making.

Last week we got a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the production of our new training videos, and one person absolutely stole the show, Kitty.

Kitty played the role of a nervous and upset young person with such conviction that we were genuinely bracing for real tears. She even crumpled her jumper tightly in her hands because, “that’s what nervous people do.” Safe to say she put a lot of the adults in the room to shame with her attention to detail!

She also asked our volunteers a few questions that definitely tested them for a moment or two, with several admitting afterwards they’d never actually been asked those questions by a child before.

Kitty, you're an absolute superstar and joy to work with, and we’re pretty sure we’ve just met a future actress 🎬

All PACT volunteers receive extensive in-person training, which will now be complemented by online training resources as well.

Interested in making a difference? Learn more about volunteering for PACT: https://pact.org.au/volunteer/

Today marks 40 years since PACT made a promise to protect victims and witnesses of crime navigating some of the hardest moments of their lives.

On 29 May 1986, PACT was officially incorporated as an organisation. Our story began at a child abuse seminar where a presenter's challenge to the audience, to "make a pact to protect all children today", sparked something lasting. Two Detectives, David Jefferies and Dugald MacMillan, approached Kay McGrath, a television presenter who had been covering the seminar, and together the three of them signed the paperwork in Kay's own home to bring PACT into existence.

Today, 40 years on, we were honoured to celebrate this milestone at Government House with our Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young, Governor of Queensland, alongside our founding members, board, staff, and the volunteers who make this work possible every single day.

Most meaningfully, Kay McGrath and Detective David Jefferies were with us today, wonderful people whose vision, forty years ago, started it all.

PACT exists to support, educate and empower people through their court journey. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, we walk alongside children, young people and adults who are victims and witnesses navigating the Queensland criminal justice system. It is not easy work and sadly, it’s still necessary work 40 year later.

This financial year alone:
4,022 vulnerable children, young people and adults were supported by PACT.
51% of those we supported were adults.
63% of cases involved domestic and sexual violence matters.
12% of our clients identify as First Nations peoples, a figure that reminds us how much further we have to go in ensuring every victim and witness, regardless of background, can access the support they need and deserve.

We are grateful to Her Excellency for her steadfast support of our mission, and to every volunteer, staff member, board director, and founding member who has carried this organisation forward across four decades.

Forty years. Thousands of lives. One purpose, unchanged since the day it was written at Kay's kitchen table.

Here's to the next chapter.