September is international FASD Awareness Month. Around the world, red shoes are the international symbol of FASD Awareness. The ‘Red Shoes Rock’ campaign was started in 2013 by Canadian RJ Formanek, an adult with FASD who started wearing red shoes to stand out and spark conversations about his hidden disability (click to download this logo).
In 2024, the scale of the investment required for FASD in Aotearoa was finally acknowledged with discussion around a revised FASD Action Plan. But despite two groundbreaking reports published last year (from NZIER and Massey University) which detailed the enormous social impact of FASD in Aotearoa, progress has slowed since then-Health Minister Shane Reti was replaced in early 2025.
As a community, we still desperately need:
• Disability Support Services (DSS) funding eligibility to be extended to include all people with FASD and their families (not just those with Intellectual Disabilities / IDs).
• a more equitable and inclusive education for ākonga / students with FASD – and support for educators.
• practical support for the daily lives of people with FASD and their whānau.
Our rangatahi with FASD want to know why there’s been no progress. Their self advocacy is growing more confident, and for their sake we as whānau, caregivers, professionals and supporters need to make ourselves heard, too!
• Include some posts about FASD on your social media pages during September – see below for downloadable / printable tiles. Or you could share something you see on FASD-CAN’s social media channels (follow us on Facebook and Instagram).
• Organise a morning tea in your workplace. Ask everyone attending to wear red shoes to support the #RedShoesRock theme to raise awareness of FASD – send us a photo of your team. Don’t forget to print out some FASD information for your event from our selection of pānui below – or maybe take your laptop and run our quiz! (click to download red shoes).
• Ask your workplace, local library, school, GP or health practice if they will display our downloadable poster/s (see below) about FASD Awareness Month during September to help raise awareness.
• If you are planning an event on September 9 or at any time throughout September (FASD Awareness Month), or have ideas on ways you or your organisation can make your voices heard for those with FASD, let us know via [email protected] – we can help you publicise it!
FASD Awareness Month Resources 2025
Click on the images (left and below) to download these tiles and share widely – they're perfect for Facebook, Instagram or TikTok!
There's this general one, plus one for education, social cost, lack of eligibility for Disability Support Services, justice, prevention – and of course, all the positives about people with FASD...
Download our updated FASD Awareness Day info sheet
Our interactive info sheet has basic knowledge and links for further information. Send it via email, or download it, print it and pin it up on noticeboards wherever you can find them! Click here to check it out.
Download our general graphic FASD information sheet
This pānui is perfect for a general overview of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, with engaging content, common mythbusters, and some facts and figures presented in an eye-catching way. Click here to download.
Run our FASD quiz! (updated with new facts for 2025)
Our FASD quiz is a great way to start conversations about all kinds of facts at your office, staffroom, whānau dinner table, Zoom meeting - wherever! Some of these facts will definitely surprise you and your team – and it's a fun way to learn. Click here to download the quiz in pdf format.
Get a photo with an MP and win one of two $300 supermarket vouchers!
Our local elected representatives want to hear what people who live in their constituencies think about the decisions they make that affect our lives – and we have the right to let them know. Use the resources on this page to support you to meet with your MP, or to write or call them.Make your voice heard with your local MP – ask them if they know about FASD, tell your story, explain your challenges, show them our website – maybe even run them through our quiz (see below) and ask them for their support.
Then... take a photo of yourself with them, email your pic to [email protected] – and you’ll go in the draw to win!
• Click here to find your local MP's contact details (and who they are if you're not sure).
• Feel free to use our FASD letter template as a basis to get in touch (this page includes info on how to find your local MP’s email address).
• Please click here to read the terms and conditions of this competition.
Our cities lit up in RED on 09/09/2025!All around the world, hundreds of monuments and buildings are lit up red for FASD Awareness Day, September 9.
In 2023, Ōtautahi / Christchurch was our first to light up lots of its city monuments in red, becoming not just the first city in Aotearoa to acknowledge FASD on the 9th, but due to our geography on the planet – the first in the world!
In 2024, Christchurch, Wellington (the Michael Fowler Centre, left), Whangārei, Dunedin, Whanganui and New Plymouth got on board
In 2025 these landmarks lit up:
• Whangārei – 'Sails' bridge
• Auckland – Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower
• Whanganui – Opera House
• Rotorua – Clock tower, Civic building tower and Govt Gardens Arches
• Napier – the Gilray fountain (waterfront)
• Nelson – Clock tower
• New Plymouth – Clock tower
• Wellington – Carter Fountain, Oriental Bay, Queen’s Wharf, albatross sculpture and the waterfront lighting, Cable Car tunnel - (not Michael Fowler Centre – pencilled in for next year (WOW this year)
• Christchurch – Christchurch Botanical Gardens, New Brighton Pier, Bridge of Remembrance, Scott Plaza, Victoria Square Fountain, Vaka 'A Hina sculpture, the Fanfare sculpture (northern motorway)
• Dunedin – Toitu and Railway Station
Could you convince your council to light up for us next year? We may be able to hit the news if enough cities light up!
Click here to use our template letter to contact your own council – and please do let us know via [email protected] if they agree.
