Flat Out is an independent, not for profit, community based organisation that is managed by and for women, trans and gender diverse people. Flat Out is committed to co-creating safer spaces, fostering support and self-determination for people who identify as sistergirls, intersex, transgender and/or gender diverse women. We respect that identity is for the individual to define, and work collective
ly to ensure that people with these identities are accorded respect and access to our support and advocacy, and provided ongoing opportunities to inform policies concerning the intersection of their identities with experiences of criminalisation. The Flat Out Management Collective (Board) embraces fairness and equality through the essential roles of governance, management and leadership that are underpinned by a comprehensive set of values, policies and procedures and delegated authority. Flat Out receives government funding through the Department of Health and Human Services (Victoria), and project funds from various sources to increase our capacity to deliver innovative and effective services, advocacy and social change. Government funding is for the purpose of providing individualised support and advocacy for women (with or without children) to address homelessness, drug and alcohol treatment and a range of other support and advocacy to address the underlying causes of criminalisation. Independent funding is raised through donations, grants and grassroots fundraising for the purposes of Flat Out’s social change and systemic advocacy work. Flat Out leads and participates in research and community education, seeking to inform the wider community about the harms that occur for women in the criminal justice system. Flat Out works directly with women who have experienced criminalisation and/or incarceration and to improve the rights and conditions of women in prison. Flat Out works to prevent women from going to prison, and keeping women out of prison once they are released. The theories and values that underpin Flat Out’s work have remained constant since Flat Out’s inception (1988). Through community involvement, education and research, Flat Out works toward having a strong voice in the prison abolition movement in Australia and internationally. Our vision is that eventually prisons will be viewed as antiquated, cruel and ineffective institutions. Not unlike the movements to abolish slavery; movements to end racism; the women’s liberation movement, and the movement to end homelessness. Flat Out seeks to work alongside diverse communities to end all forms of inequality and unfairness. We see all these movements as interconnected. We strive to honour our commitments to women who are criminalised, friends and supporters of Flat Out, the broader community and our funders.
