Politics
Rachael Jacobs’ involvement in community, activism and politics has spanned three decades. As a racial justice advocate and environmental activist, she has worked with numerous organisations in Australia and overseas. Rachael is politically engaged, and ran for Federal Parliament in 2022 as the Greens candidate for the seat of Grayndler, coming second to the Prime Minister. In 2019, she ran as the second senate candidate on the NSW Greens ticket, supporting the election of Mehreen Faurqi. Rachael joined the Greens in 2011 and has also been a candidate for Brisbane City Local Council (Central Ward) in 2012 and the Federal seat of Brisbane in 2013. She has been an active member of GPET (The Greens Political Education Trust), Petersham Newtown Local Group convenor and a speaker at the Green Institute and GPET conferences. She is also an active member of the Greens NSW Education Working Group.
Rachael the has been an activist since she was 15 years old and has previously been a member of the Australian Democrats. Rachael held the positions of Young Democrats National President and party’s Deputy President as well as being a candidate for state, local council and senate candidate in NSW and the ACT.
Community Activism
Rachael is an experienced activist, having engaged in direct action and arts activism for over 25 years. Her activism has centred around:
Climate justice and decolonised environmental activism
Anti-racist campaigns, particularly those elevating the voices of women of colour
Intersectional feminism
Public education
LGBTIQA+ rights and the fight for marriage equality
International development, the promotion of peace and disarmament
Rachael is on the board of Sweltering Cities, an organisation that advocates for cooler, more equitable and more liveable urban environments. She is also on the boards of PYT Youth Theatre company in Fairfield, and Wide Eyed Wonder, an organisation that advocates for access to the arts for children. She was a member of POPE (the Promotion of Public Education) and a founding committee member of Teachers for Refugees. She regularly contributes to several campaigns and direct actions through her arts activism. Rachael is an active member of her union, the NTEU and was previously a member of the NSW Teachers Federation.
Rachael has previously been on the boards of arts advocacy organisations and professional associations, including Drama Australia, Drama NSW, ACTDA (ACT Drama Association) and Ausdance.
Arts Activism
Art has an incredible capacity to bring about change, using visual or embodied mediums that appeal to the aesthetic and affective sense. Rachael’s political and artistic work frequently combine to take action or make statements on issues close to her heart. Her dance performance work now concentrates on narratives around voice for women of colour, consent, safety for women, body positivity and radical activism. She has worked with a range of organisations to develop artistic works focussed on social and political change. Some previous projects include:
Chill the Heat: An arts festival in South West Sydney drawing attention to the lived experience of climate change and rising surface temperatures (2021/2022)
Dance for Your World: A dance festival and series of flashmobs pioneered by Rachael to raise money for Oxfam and bring attention to Australia’s international obligations with regard to foreign aid (2010-2013)
Discobedience: choreography and leadership of a street action in Newtown in support of climate action (2020)
Mardi Gras: Choreography and coordination of float for support group Free Gay n Happy (2006 – 2019) and choreography for the Greens float (2017-2019)
Dance for Love: Dance actions at Equal Love rallies in support of Marriage Equality
No Johnny No: Dance and cheerleading action at Unions’ Your Rights at Work protests against Work Choices (2005)
Formation: Dance action at International Women’s Day rallies (2018)
I Will Survive: Halloween themed protest dance for Xtinction Rebellion (2019)
Other Media
#illridewithyou
In 2014 during the Sydney Siege, Rachael Jacobs boarded a suburban train in Brisbane and offered to walk with a young Muslim women. Her action inspired another woman to reach out to other Muslim Australians if they were feeling threatened or unsafe, using the hashtag #illridewithyou. You can read Rachael’s account of the event here:
Although it was never meant to be a hashtag, this small action shows that one person can make a difference and the movement for a more peaceful, kinder world is up to all of us. The following statement was made by the then Greens Leader Christine Milne in the Senate:
“We suffered a major jolt as a nation when something of that calibre of violence occurred in the heart of Sydney, but our response was to come together to reject violence. And that coming together to reject violence was the message we sent out to the rest of the world. It is a reminder that at heart we are a nation that values peace, community and social cohesion. We value and enjoy diversity and difference, and that was on show. And then, as certain people in the community felt fearful about what might occur, out came that wonderful outpouring of support with the 'illridewithyou' hashtag. It really demonstrates that what was a wake-up call for the nation was answered with the right response from the nation—not to marginalise, but to reach out; to redouble our efforts to reject messages of hate, fear, disrespect and violence, and instead to value those things which bring us all together as human beings, as a community and as Australian people.”
