Sarah Rosenberg, co-founder and Executive Director of With You We Can, honoured with 2025 Burgmann College Outstanding Alumni Award
Burgmann alum Sarah Rosenberg (2015–2016) is a powerful and dynamic advocate for the victims of sexual violence through With You We Can, a national, online-first, collaborative resource that demystifies the police and legal processes for victims of sexual violence while trying to improve them. Sarah co-founded With You We Can in 2021 and serves as its Executive Director.
Sarah’s own journey towards starting With You We Can began with her own lived experience as a victim of sexual violence. As she sought justice for her perpetrator’s crime, she experienced firsthand the shame, suspicion, and stigma that sexual violence victims face as they pursue justice through the legal system.
‘Clutching my copy of Chanel Miller's book Know My Name, I justified the nightmare of reporting by writing everything down, hoping that I could expose the hell of this system for the next victim’, said Sarah, ‘During the process, no one could give me clear, honest, or nuanced information. The experience took away my agency just like it was taken when I was assaulted, right at the moment I was trying to reclaim it.
‘I went in, shielded by all the privileges that I carry, eyes wide open. I have a lawyer for a mother, and it was worse than anything I could have imagined. What must it be like for the majority of victims in this country?
‘Sexual assault is a whole-of-community problem. We're talking about our mums, our daughters, our sisters. As for perpetrators, they're people we know and love, and they are not in jail.
‘At its heart, With You We Can is about ensuring that every person who has experienced sexual violence, regardless of their background, their postcode or their capacity, can safely and confidently engage with the systems that are meant to protect all of us.’
Sarah’s work has received widespread recognition and acclaim and has led to nationwide shifts in how sexual violence is discussed, understood, and approached in Australia's legal system. She is an active member of the National Women’s Safety Alliance, the Independent Collective of Survivors, and the Head of Policy & Research at Run For It Australia. She is also a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) Inquiry’s Expert Advisory Committee, and a recipient of the 2023 Edna Ryan Award ‘for making a feminist difference in community activism’.
On receiving the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award, Sarah reflected:
‘While I was living at Burgmann, I had an autoimmune disease that still impacts me today. I couldn't engage in College life the way I always wanted to, so knowing that I am seen and I'm a valued alum all these years later is really special.’
The experience of living at Burgmann gave Sarah a broader perspective into how to understand and empathise with others from different backgrounds, which she has carried forward.
‘To me, living at Burgmann was an exercise in empathy, learning to share space with people of all different personalities. We had a lot of big characters, people from all walks of life and with diverse backgrounds and views that were sometimes really different to my own. Regardless, we built a real sense of community, and those connections, from collaboration at inter-college events to quiet acts of care for one another, have stayed with me long after I moved out. They actually shape the way I build relationships now', she said.
To current residents, Sarah offered this advice:
‘My advice for Burgmann residents is to lean in. Be weird. Be wacky. Try new things. Don't be afraid to talk to people who are older than you or younger than you, people you think you have nothing in common with. You might just find your people.’
