September is international FASD Awareness Month, which means it is time to put on your red shoes.
The ‘Red Shoes Rock’ campaign was started in 2013 by RJ Formanek, an adult with FASD who started wearing red shoes to stand out and spark conversations about his ‘invisible disability’.
Eleven years later, and the Red Shoes Rock campaign is going stronger than ever, providing an important opportunity to elevate the voices of those with FASD and raise awareness that women who are trying for a baby and pregnant should not drink alcohol.
In the lead up to FASD Awareness Day (9 September) the FASD Hub Australia will join key organisations in Canberra, including Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), the National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (NOFASD) and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) for a Parliamentary event, in the effort to connect with parliamentarians and highlight the intersection between FASD and criminal justice.
With FASD being the leading cause of preventable disability in Australia and an estimated prevalence of approximately 3.64%, equivalent to roughly one child per classroom, there remains much work to be done.
“Each week in my FASD clinic I meet children with devastating health, learning and behavioural challenges. As well as raising awareness we must prioritise implementing evidence-based prevention policy to minimise harms from prenatal alcohol exposure,” says Professor Elizabeth Elliott AM, Chair of the FASD Hub Australia.
The Red Shoes Rock campaign gained significant traction with a major event in Canberra featuring influential speakers and support from key policymakers.
Learn more about the Red Shoes Rock campaign and see details of events happening across Australia.
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FASD Hub Australia acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and we recognise their connections to land, water and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
