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Take another look at the causes you care about

Our community has curated the best movies and TV for the causes you care about. Learn more, be inspired and share with your friends.

Popular causes

Crime, Law & Justice

The criminal justice system is complicated. Is it designed to protect communities? Rehabilitate offenders? Or to uphold justice through fair punishment? Regardless of your answer, a good justice system is unbiased, serving all citizens equally. However, these principles often fall short in real life. Miscarriages of justice happen frequently, often skewed against the most disadvantaged members of society, and manifesting through police brutality, racial profiling, wrongful convictions and persecution.

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Family

The definition of ‘family’ often varies widely across cultures. But one thing most can agree on is that your family are the people who nurture you, and who you provide care for in return. Family is especially important for us when we are children; ideally providing our first relationships, being a source of love and learning, and creating safety and security. However, this is not the reality for everyone. Family dysfunction is common and can be devastating, especially for children. Family separation can occur for a whole range of reasons, such as war, violence, oppression or ill-health, making adoption and fostering complicated topics that can be sources of trauma or joy. And there are still many families - such as same-sex parents, or single mothers - who face discrimination and stigma.

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Female Empowerment

What could 3.9 billion people possibly have in common? Unfortunately, this half of the world’s population still faces obstacles because of their gender. In Australia, this manifests as a lack of female leaders in companies and governments, exclusion from certain industries, consistent income and wage gaps, and gendered violence. Globally, many women are unable to choose who to marry and when, whether to have children and how many, and are barred access to education, employment and financial security.

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All causes

AIDS & HIV

Long before Covid seemed to turn the world upside down, another virus reared its ugly head and put a grim and horrifying fear into the community. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a sexually transmitted disease that attacks the body’s immune system, particularly cells that protect the body against bacterial and fungal infections. Initially the virus, which can only be transmitted through the sharing of blood, semen and/or vaginal fluids, doesn’t normally have any symptoms at all. But left untreated it can progress to become AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), which for decades has meant an almost-certain early death.

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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the Indigenous peoples of Australia. They are not one group, but rather comprise hundreds of groups that each have their own distinct set of languages, histories and cultural traditions. From Gadigal people in inner-city Sydney, to Anindilyakwa people on Groote Eylandt, Indigenous people all around Australia are connected by rich stories, culture and connection to Country. Despite resilience and strong communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience widespread socioeconomic disadvantage, generational trauma, discrimination and health inequality.

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Addiction

Addiction is a medical condition where individuals become dependent on the mood altering effects of a substance such as drugs or alcohol, or activities such as gambling or shopping, for a variety of reasons. These can include a need to relax, numb emotional pain, or escape problems. While addiction is treatable, it can often be chronic and degenerative and have widespread negative impacts on individuals and their families.

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Adoption & Fostering

Having a stable and loving family is, undoubtedly, the cornerstone of a happy and healthy childhood. However, too many children – for a variety of reasons – are left without parents well before they are old enough to care for themselves. The list of things that take parents away from children forever is long and, frankly, horrible. War, drug abuse, suicide, illness or even simple accidents can be the difference between a positive and happy childhood and a lifetime of uncertainty and fear, with effects that ripple far beyond the developmental years.

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Arts & Culture

Art is how we tell our stories, and connect with the stories of others. It is this connection that creates ‘culture’ - a shared set of values that binds communities together. Art can be anything: music, film, dance, fashion, visual arts, digital creativity and everything in between. We love the emotion, spiritual fulfilment, and playfulness that art brings to our lives. But creative storytelling also has a superpower - the ability to mould and reshape culture, change our relationships with each other, and radically alter the path of the future.

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Bushfires

For thousands of years, Aboriginal people have harnessed the power of bushfires to promote the growth of edible plants, care for the land and make hunting easier. But climate change and a lack of sustainable land management have aggravated the effects of Australia's bushfires, with longer bushfire seasons and more extreme fires causing unprecedented states of emergency across the country. The effects of these ‘mega-fires’ have been heartbreaking for individuals, communities and wildlife.

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Cancer

There’s a 50/50 chance that you’ll be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85, which means that nearly everyone has crossed paths with the physical pain, emotional anguish and mental anxiety that cancer sufferers and their families go through. Some kinds of cancer are very treatable, while others are not, and the sheer variety of differences means that a wide range of treatments and expertise are also required.

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Children & Youth

Dion Warwick put it best, when she sang about her belief that children are our future – largely because it’s a bit of a no-brainer. However, that’s not something that is immediately apparent to the universe at large, because an alarming number of kids simply don’t have the kind of opportunities that every child deserves. Whether it’s through the circumstance of their family situation, an unexpected and serious diagnosis or critical health problem, a disability or simply through bad luck, loads of children in Australia and around the world could do with a helping hand.

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Climate Change

Sometimes we think of climate change as an abstract ‘tomorrow problem’. In reality, the long-term disruption of the Earth’s climate (that we caused) is devastating people, communities, animals and natural environments right now. Longer droughts, more frequent natural disasters, political instability, starvation, war, mass displacement, extinction - it’s an apocalyptic list. And it’s not a ‘tomorrow problem’; it’s pretty urgent. We need to reduce our emissions and stabilize our climate - the future of the planet depends on it.

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Crime, Law & Justice

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Democracy & Politics

Here at Goods we might be biased, but we think that letting everyday people decide on the rules of their society is a pretty great idea. However, corruption, disenfranchised voters, nepotism, and political censorship means that sometimes democracy doesn’t work so well in practice. At the same time, political extremism and social division is increasing around the world. There has been concern in recent years that democracy shows signs of backsliding globally. We know that outcomes of corruption and political alienation aren’t great: broken political systems lead to increased inequality, violence and human rights abuses.

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Disabilities

A disability is an impairment of the body or mind that makes it harder to perform certain actions or participate in activities. There are a huge range of disabilities, which can affect a person’s senses, movement, memory, relationships, learning or communicating. Not all disabilities are visible. However, it’s easy (and lazy) to simply blame a person’s disability for making their life more difficult. A more nuanced perspective might be to look at how society is making life difficult. This could be unreasonable expectations, discrimination, poor environment design, or ill-considered technology and communication choices, which combine to obstruct a person with a disability from participating in their community.

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Disasters

A disaster is any sudden calamity that results in large-scale human suffering. Disasters occur around the world, but can be most devastating in developing countries that lack the infrastructure and resources to minimise risk and provide relief. Whether natural or man-made, the long-term impacts of a disaster can be just as catastrophic as the event itself. Ongoing trauma, social upheaval, displacement, the destruction of homes, businesses and basic infrastructure can lead to secondary social and economic shock waves that hurt communities for decades to come.

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Diseases & Disorders

Diseases and disorders are a part of life - whether a cold or hayfever, we’ve all experienced one. But there are many diseases and disorders that can be crippling, and the ability of a society to respond to disease can vary widely. In some nations, rabies, malaria and typhoid are things of the past. But in others, a lack of healthcare and sanitation can greatly increase the risk of illness or death from disease. In developed countries, the suffering caused by diseases and disorders is still high. Genetic conditions, dementia, epilepsy, autoimmune disorders, diabetes, stroke and heart disease are just some examples of a disorder or disease that can drastically reduce a person’s length or quality of life.

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Domestic & Family Violence

Domestic violence typically occurs within families, and is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men on an intimate female partner. However, anyone from children to grandparents can be the victim of domestic violence, which is not always physical. Emotional abuse, religious manipulation, economic control and sexual coercion are also forms of violence, and can be equally traumatic for victims. Domestic violence is one of the most underreported crimes in the world. The psychological manipulation that often accompanies prolonged abuse means that many victims struggle to understand or explain what is happening to them. It can also result in a sense of loyalty to the abuser and feeling responsible for or deserving of the abuse.

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Drought

Droughts are dry. Really bloody dry. They have always occurred, and many ecosystems have evolved specifically to survive them. However, a severe drought can decimate even the hardiest natural environment. Likewise, extended droughts severely impact people. They disrupt food production, which is a polite way of saying that they ruin farmer’s lives and push some communities to the brink of starvation. In countries like Australia, this leads to severe mental health crises in rural and regional areas. Globally, droughts can lead to mass displacement, war and famine.

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Education

Education has been called the ‘great equaliser’, because it can act as a circuit-breaker to end cycles of poverty, increase access to opportunity, and empower people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to change the status quo. On the flipside, when some people have better access to education than others, inequality will increase. Women and people of colour have traditionally been excluded from formal education, and stand to benefit the most from the opportunities and empowerment it brings. Money is also a driving factor: wealthy communities and nations are often able to reinforce their privilege by affording better quality education for their children.

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Environment

Let’s face it, Earth is a 10. Gorgeous rainforests, sparkling oceans, rolling deserts, and a couple of big ol’ ice caps that she likes to shake on the dancefloor. The other planets don’t come close. But as well as being stunning, Earth’s natural environments provide the basic means of survival for every living thing on the planet (you and me included). You know what happens next. Earth gets a self-obsessed boyfriend (AKA modern civilisation) who treats her like trash. From pollution to overfishing to habitat destruction, Earth’s natural beauty is vanishing fast - and the consequences are dire for the plants, animals and people that rely on these resources to live.

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Family

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Female Empowerment

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Food Security & Hunger

World hunger is something that has been on the charity radar for decades – and whether you’re just learning about it now, or you’re old enough to remember when Band Aid was a thing, it’s an issue that is still a major problem for a massive number of people. When we think of world hunger, we think of places that simply cannot produce the food that’s needed – and that can mean we misunderstand the problem as being one of simple over-population. But the fact remains that the world currently produces more than enough food to feed everyone – but not everyone has access to food when they need it. On top of that, there’s still the challenge of making sure that places that are producing enough food now will be able to produce what they need well into the future.

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Genocide

Genocide is a painful concept, but it’s important to understand. It is the deliberate mass killing of people from a particular social group with the intention to eradicate them completely; examples from recent history include the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. It’s easy to think of genocide as a thing of the past, but people from many ethnic and religious groups around the world still live in fear of mass killings - it’s a terrifying shadow that hangs over hundreds of thousands of families every day.

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Health & Medicine

Unfortunately, there is still a disproportionate number of people in the world who are unable to access basic healthcare - an issue that has an especially large impact on babies and children. At the same time, sickness and injury affects everyone in the world, and there is a long list of health challenges that medical experts are struggling to overcome. From containing superbugs to navigating war zones, providing good healthcare is no easy feat.

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Journalism

If you’d rather a dictatorship than a democracy, this is not the cause for you. But if you think that corrupt or selfish governments lead to unhappy lives for citizens, you’ve come to the right place. That’s because strong, honest journalism is essential for a functional democracy. If we don’t know what’s happening, how can we take action? It’s also for this reason that journalists are persecuted around the world. Whether subtly through underfunding, legal red tape and political harassment, or blatantly through violence, journalism is under unprecedented threat

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LGBTQIA+

This is, arguably, the issue that looks set to define a generation. Sexual and gender identity is a massive part of who we are as people – and while it has become more common to let the world know who you are, the divide between acceptance and outright bigotry is still deep, and stark. But it’s not all glitter and street parades. The daily struggle faced by the LGBTQI community is tough, leaving people vulnerable and often times confused, which can take a significant toll on their mental health. And there is still a very real physical risk as well. Members of the LGBQTI community face an elevated risk of being the victim of a number of serious crimes, including sexual assault, and domestic violence.

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Marine Conservation

No more shrimp on the barbie? Things are looking bleak beneath the briny deep. Studies have found that up to 99% of Australia’s shellfish reefs have disappeared, bleaching is destroying coral, and overfishing is predicted to cause a food chain collapse. Our home may be girt by sea, but we haven’t done a great job keeping the neighbourhood tidy: we’re still dumping huge amounts of plastic into Southeast Asia, and there’s a floating island of plastic three times the size of France. Merde! Put together, it means all of our marine life is suffering, and our oceans - the lungs of our planet - are gasping.

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Mental Health

Mental Health is an area that affects a quietly enormous number of Australians. A 2019 Study found that almost half of all Australians aged 16-85 had experienced a mental health issue in their lifetime. This includes a range of disorders and symptoms that can impact mood and thinking such as anxiety, depression, paranoia and panic attacks. Mental ill-health has increased in recent years, especially in the wake of a global pandemic. Many consider this to be a worsening crisis, especially among younger Australians.

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Online Safety

The internet is one of humanity’s pivotal technological achievements. But nothing is it without flaws - and the Internet sure has some whoppers. For every informative Wikipedia page or positively delightful TikTok, there is a swamp of disinformation, abuse, and criminality putting Internet users’ physical, mental, and financial safety and security at risk.

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Pets & Animal Rescue

Every year, thousands of animals are in need of rescue around the country. Whether they are family pets that can no longer be cared for, livestock kept in terrible conditions or animals that are the victims of deliberate acts of cruelty, there are times when people simply need to step in and help. However, thousands of animals every year are destroyed because existing services are simply overwhelmed, with limited time, space and resources to cope with the volume of animals in need of help. The World Wildlife Fund estimated that nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced by Australian bushfires in 2019-2020.

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Poverty & Inequality

It’s no secret that there’s a serious gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ – and the bad news is that the gap isn’t just very large, it’s also widening all the time. It is utterly crazy that there are people living rough and going hungry, while the mega-rich literally float off into space with their mates. The exact statistics vary depending on how they’re calculated, but are absolutely staggering any way you look at them. According to Oxfam International, the wealthiest 1% control more than double the wealth of 7 billion people. It gets even worse when gender is also a factor: the 22 richest men in the world have more money than all of the women in Africa. Incredibly, the gap between the rich and the poor is still widening, and for those at the bottom of the ladder, it’s a life of struggle inside a system that funnels money away from those who need it the most.

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Racism

Defining racism is pretty simple: it’s any form of discrimination on the basis of race. But as simple as it is to define, it’s not always obvious. Racism is more than just a one-on-one interaction – it is present in the very systems of society, where one group maintains control of institutions, media, money and culture. Racism is harmful, and is most often an issue that affects people of colour. You can see it in unemployment and poverty levels, and the life-threatening consequences of police brutality and inadequate healthcare.

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Refugees & Asylum Seekers

A 2020 report from UNHCR found that 1% of people in the world are currently displaced - forced to flee their home because of conflict, persecution or events that have severely disrupted their society. If you’re sheltering in another country, you’re considered a refugee. And if you’re attempting to become a refugee, you’re seeking asylum. Imagine the heartache of losing your home and separating from your family, the fear and desperation of searching for a safe haven, and the anxious uncertainty about your fate in a strange land.

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Religion & Spirituality

A religion is a shared collection of spiritual values and beliefs that guide a person’s behaviour, and give a framework for their role within a community. Major religions are often linked to institutions, and may run schools and hospitals or even governments. This makes discussing religion complex - it’s a topic that is intensely personal and intimate, but also global and political. Historically, the overlap between power and religion has often led to war, displacement and genocide. At the same time, the personal values of selflessness, empathy and kindness espoused by many religions have led to incredible acts of humanity.

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Science & Technology

Penicillin. The printing press. Indigenous land management. Science and technology have been responsible for keeping us warm, safe, social and fed since the beginning of time, and arguably, this ability to constantly develop new tools and shape our environment is what makes us human. But too often, it’s big corporations who can afford to research and develop new technologies. So what happens to the solutions that could benefit the world’s most disadvantaged people? Who is pressing for scientific solutions to humanitarian and environmental challenges?

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Seniors

Old people are cool – right up until there are too many of them. That’s when we run into a question that is facing a number of governments around the world – and that is “what do we do about an ageing population”? As people pass retirement age and no longer form part of the national workforce, their needs might diminish, but they don’t disappear. And if they weren’t in a position to save for their so-called “twilight years”, then they face living out the rest of their days in poverty, and poor health, in some cases with little to no support. And as they age, with their friends and family gone, lack of opportunity to socialise leads to a lonely and difficult existence.

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Sexual Harassment & Violence

When most people think about sexual violence, they automatically think of sexual assault. And while there’s no denying the horrific impact that sexual assault can have on a person and their loved ones, sexual violence is actually a much broader problem than that. Sexual violence occurs when someone either attempts or succeeds to force someone into a sexual act without consent. That includes unwanted contact or touching, sexual exploitation and trafficking, the taking and sharing of intimate images of another person, or forcing someone else to view intimate images of yourself or another person.

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Slavery & Exploitation

You could be forgiven for thinking that slavery was abolished with the introduction of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. But what’s really happened is that the whole sorry mess simply moved underground, and there are countless thousands of people around the world who are still, essentially, slaves. Often, this falls under the umbrella of “human trafficking”, and it’s the fastest growing organised crime in the world. Around the world, men – and especially women and children – are being held against their will, often trapped in foreign countries and forced into appalling working conditions or sexual exploitation.

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Sports & Recreation

Most of us have had it drilled into us that exercise is a Good Thing – it helps us keep fit, can help improve mental health and build connections to the wider community. But access to sports and recreational pursuits isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Without significant contributions from members of the community who are passionate about their chosen sport, the likelihood of an individual finding their own favourite pastime might never exist. And even while larger and more popular sports receive funding from external sources, the fact remains that they are often reliant on more than just the physical capital that volunteer workers can provide.

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Suicide

Suicide is a complex social and health crisis that accounts for a startlingly high number of preventable deaths every year. The World Health Organisation says that more than 700,000 people take their own lives every year – and that the number of people who attempt suicide is far higher than that. The risk factors for suicide vary significantly, and include triggers such as depression and poor mental health. Suicide rates are also disproportionately higher in communities that are subject to discrimination, including prisoners, indigenous people, refugees and LGBTI individuals. Other risk factors include old age, poverty and even simple access to the means of dying by suicide, such as agricultural pesticides and firearms.

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War & Peace

Peace is good. War is bad. That goes without saying. But for a lot of people, when they consider the “cost” of war, what immediately springs to mind is only the death toll among the soldiers who fight. The human toll of war is far, far worse than that – so bad, in fact, that there’s an Orwellian double-speak name for it: Collateral Damage. That’s a nice way of talking about the civilians and their homes who were simply in the way when the war raged through. And it’s not just the immediate civilian casualties that are the issue. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are displaced every year due to conflict around the globe. When – or even, if – they can return to their homes, they’re coming back to areas where virtually nothing has been left intact.

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Water

Water is a basic building block of life. We all need water to exist, survive and flourish. But there are a number of factors that make getting and keeping access to clean, healthy water extremely difficult. In some areas, chronic drought reduces the Earth’s ability to provide the water we rely on. In other areas, agricultural use upstream is denying the natural water flow of river systems downstream. Elsewhere, corporations are draining aquifers around the world to fill plastic bottles for the sake of convenience and profit or producing pollution that is steadily poisoning the well for communities everywhere.

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Wild Animals

Humans have an ancient affinity with wild animals - there's something about a prowling jaguar or a leaping grasshopper that fascinates us. But as our species sprawls across the globe, wildlife is being pushed to the margins. Habitat loss, poaching, pollution, climate change and overfishing have meant that the animals we love are disappearing - driven to extinction at the fastest rate in history. We’ve already lost so many incredible animals; from thylacines to Balinese tigers, Splendid Poison Frogs to Western Black Rhinos. Unless something changes, we’ll only have ourselves for company.

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