Marshals
Marshals are volunteers who play an important role in helping to ensure that marches and other actions are effective and inclusive. Having a Marshal team can help organisers realise the intention of the mobilisation, whether they be standing between the mobilisation and traffic on a march through a busy street or by encircling an area where speeches are being made to a large crowd.
What Marshals Do
Marshals assist action organisers by taking responsibility for overseeing the route, participant safety, and accessibility. They may take instruction from the action organisers and Police Liaisons about how best to do this at a particular event.
For example, marshals might be asked to:
form a soft barrier to provide a pathway for members of the public to walk safely through the action area
assist in keeping protestors and members of the public safe from traffic when actions take place on/near roads
form a firm barrier to protect protestors from disruption from onlookers or counter-protestors
form a barrier between protestors and the police, such as when walking at the rear of a march between protestors and mounted police (horses)
Why have Marshals
Marshals help protestors stay safe and feel confident about taking action by acting as a buffer between them and police, hecklers or boisterous bystanders. They are also an information source for organisers by communicating any major issues (medical conditions, problems with police, and tricky situations) to the Lead Marshal or other action support coordinators (eg Street Medics, Police Liaison)
Become a Marshal
If you’d like to do more than be a participant at actions, then becoming a Marshal is a good first role. Our training is accessible and we have experienced Marshal Co-ordinators. Sometimes we combine our teams with volunteers from an action we are attending. So, if you currently participate in actions, you can ask organisers if you can join their team. Or, contact us directly by filling in your details HERE.
Request a Marshal Team
We consider fielding Marshal Teams upon invitation, and according to our volunteer capacity. We are happy to incorporate your volunteers into our team. We work across diverse movements, campaigns, and protest events, and we need to prioritise our resources and capacity. When we need to choose, we tend to focus on protecting the political space of groups that are experiencing or resisting structural or systemic oppression; or are more likely to be targeted by police or state repression.
To request Marshals at your event, please click on the button in the navigation bar and fill out the Request Action Support form (information goes to a secure email address).
