2012 ANIMAL ACTIVISTS FORUM Sydney

Seema Srivastava confirmed workshop for AAF2012: She will discuss Animal & environmental law. How a NSW factory farm operator was challenged using environmental laws and a landmark decision against a local government council was won which resulted in changes to council management and enforcement of factory farming regulations.

Emma Hurst of Animal Liberation New South Wales is also confirmed for a workshop for AAF2012:

For Duck’s Sake! The dirty secrets of the duck industry and how you can make it change.

Steve Garlick of Animal Justice Party, A Political Party for Animals, will discuss ''Why a political party is needed to forward the animal agenda in Australia and what has been achieved to date'' at his confirmed workshop for the AAF2012.

This sounds awsum!!! wish i could go.

Are you a student? Would you like to be involved in a student group round table meeting to share information between students working a different universities around Australia?

If you would like to be involved please contact

By utter coincidence an academic conference "Living With(out) Animals" is being held in Sydney the day after the AAF. This may be of interest to many AAF attendees.

Upcoming Symposium at the University of Sydney:
LIVING WITH (OUT) ANIMALS
: Non-Human Ethics for the 21st Century

22 October, 12.30-5.00 pm, Darlington Centre


Free admision, but places are limited.
To register please go to: http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/velim/

Our latest confirmed International Speaker:

Bruce Friedrich—Effective Advocacy: Stealing from the Corporate Playbook

Bruce Friedrich leads Farm Sanctuary’s legislation and litigation efforts and is launching the “Someone Project,” which
introduces the public to farm animal capacities. Before joining Farm Sanctuary, Bruce worked for six years at a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C., and for 15 years at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where he was vice president for policy and government affairs.

In this workshop, Bruce will suggest that animal activists should be working as hard—and as smart—in our work on behalf of animals as business executives work to make money for their corporations, and he will offer what he considers to be the most important tips for effective advocacy. These suggestions are taken from the book he co-authored with Vegan Outreach founder and President Matt Ball, titled The Animal Activist’s Handbook, a book about which Princeton bio-ethicist Peter Singer raves: “Rarely have so few pages contained so much intelligence and good advice. Get it, read it, and act on it. Now.”

Another confirmed workshop:

How to build rapport and influence people by Katrina Fox

What is rapport and why is it important and useful for animal activists?
Most of us have experienced the “talk to the hand” reactions of those around us when we’ve tried to engage with them on animal advocacy issues. People are more inclined to listen to your ideas if they feel a connection (rapport) with you. The higher the level of rapport, the more likely you can influence them.
In this 45-minute practical workshop, you will learn and practice techniques such as matching and mirroring, and pacing and leading, which will enable you to quickly build rapport with people, including complete strangers, to maximise opportunities for your message to be heard.
Katrina Fox is a freelance writer, editor and publisher on social justice issues (www.katrinafox.com). She has written articles on animal advocacy for a range of mainstream media and niche publications nationally and internationally and is editor-in-chief of alternative media portal The Scavenger (www.thescavenger.net). Katrina has recently moved into the field of personal development, working as a life coach and utilising techniques from NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).

We are proud to announce that Jon Dee, founder of "Planet Ark" and "Do Something" will be presenting on "Creating Change".