More than 30 high-profile women from the Australian media and entertainment industries – including Tina Arena, Deborah Mailman, Sarah Blasko and Danielle Cormack – are spearheading a new national organisation, led by Tracey Spicer, to tackle sexual harassment, abuse and assault in workplaces across Australia.

Inspired by the Time’s Up initiative in the US, Now Australia launched a crowdfunding campaign on Sunday, aiming to raise $250,000 to fund a staffed centre that will connect people from every industry with counselling and legal support.

The organisation also hopes to conduct research, education and lobbying to effect real change in Australian workplace practices and regulations.

Spicer says more than 1,500 people shared their #MeToo stories of workplace harassment and assault following her public call-out on Twitter in October 2017. These stories identified more than 100 men who had not been held accountable for sexual harassment, bullying, and physical assault and rape in Australian workplaces.

Spicer has spent the interim period connecting media organisations with some of the victims, to investigate some of the stories – a process that has been slowed down by understaffed newsrooms and Australia’s tough defamation laws.

But publicising the issue and naming the names, she said, is only half the battle.

“Storytelling is incredibly important – probably the most important [part of the #MeToo movement] – but it’s got to the stage in this movement where we need more than the hashtag,” Spicer told Guardian Australia. “We need practical solutions for an endemic problem.”

In News Corp publications on Sunday morning, Tina Arena wrote that she had been subject to inappropriate behaviour through her career. “Of course I have been compromised, of course there have been games, of course there has been inappropriate behaviour, and of course there have been times when I had no idea what it actually was,” she wrote. “I am very grateful to never have been in a dangerous position.”

The screen actor Abby Earl has spoken of one incident on set when a director “turned me around, bent me over and pretended to have sex with me” in front of the cast and crew. The country music singer Melinda Schneider also revealed an incident involving a successful songwriter in Nashville, who she says pinned her against a wall in the middle of a songwriting session and told her explicitly what he planned to do to her. She was able to get away but has released a song tied to the campaign titled My Voice.

The ambassadors, which also include Missy Higgins, Mahalia Barnes, Kate Miller-Heidke and Isabella Manfredi, are aiming to use their profiles to raise awareness and funds, with Ann Sherry announced as the inaugural patron. “We’re using the power and profile of women in our sector to help women and men who are victims of sexual harassment in some of the lowest-paying industries in the country,” Spicer said.

Led by a steering committee of women from diverse backgrounds and professions, Now hopes to fund a two-tiered approach, comprising support and solutions for victims of workplace harassment and assault.

The organisation’s first aim is to launch a frontline support service that will connect people who contact them with the help they need: public or private counsellors who work with sexual harassment victims; public or private lawyers, some of which are offering their service pro-bono or low-bono; and media support – not necessarily to investigate each story, but to offer victims advice.

“A lot of women who come forward of their own volition are trolled really badly,” Spicer said. Spicer herself received death threats after instigating investigations of harassment and assault by the ABC and Fairfax, which have so far revealed accusations against Don Burke and Craig McLachlan, who have denied the allegations. “We want a service where we can give strategic advice and support, and just offer an ear if they’re going through that.”

The second tier of the organisation is focused on long-term solutions, comprising research into workplace harassment, education resources for schools and workplaces, and lobbying of government and statutory authorities.

Spicer sees it as a “one-stop-shop” or triage service, which will work with existing services in the community and legal sectors. “We’re not duplicating anything – we are aiming to identify the gaps in the system and fill them. We don’t want to take funding from other organisations.”

One in two women experience sexual harassment in their life, with young women, disabled women and women of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds particularly at risk.

“We need this to be inclusive, and men are victims too,” Spicer said. “We know we’ve got to bring men into this conversation. This is not just a woman’s issue.”

The investigations Spicer has spearheaded are ongoing but it is taking time for many of the stories to come to light.

“We have a very cash-strapped media sector in Australia at the moment, and investigative reporting is expensive. We also have the toughest defamation laws here than almost anywhere in the world and we don’t have first amendment protection like in America. This is why the stories are rolling out so slowly but it does mean that when they come out they are robust and solid.”

She said those who were initially emboldened by the #metoo movement to come forward have been scared off after watching how stories like theirs have played out in the press. Craig McLachlan is suing ABC, Fairfax Media and accuser Christie Whelan Browne after allegations made against him in January, and News Corp’s truth defence was thrown out this week in Geoffrey Rush’s defamation case.

“The defamation action that’s happening at the moment has frightened a lot of women from coming forward – and has made some media organisations more reticent about reporting it,” Spicer said.

Visit the Now Australia crowdfunding page

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800-RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.