Family Violence Support
Call 000 in an emergency or if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
Family violence has a serious impact on our communities, workplaces, families and individuals. Family violence increases the risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and other health related issues.
Murrindindi Shire Council is committed to prevention of all forms of violence, including family violence and gender-based violence.
In Australia, 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15. Evidence shows that women with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ and gender diverse people, pregnant women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, older women, First Nations women, women with mental illness and affected by substance abuse are more likely to experience violence. This is why everyone has an important role to play in the prevention of violence against women.
What Council is doing to prevent family violence
The Free from Violence Local Government Program
The Free from Violence Local Government Program (FFVLGP) supports councils to embed gender equality and family violence prevention practices into their work and the programs and services they deliver. Murrindindi Shire Council was one of 15 Councils to be awarded funding under the 2022-25 program.
The FFVLGP aims to increase awareness and understanding across Victorian councils of the drivers of family violence and all forms of violence against women, and how to stop this violence before it starts in Victorian communities; as well as supporting selected Victorian councils to promote positive attitudes, behaviours and culture change in their workplace and through the programs and services they deliver, to prevent family violence and all forms of violence against women.
Local Initiatives in Murrindindi Shire
The FFVLGP supported Murrindindi Shire Council to deliver the following resources and initiatives:
- Internal capacity building awareness raising through attitudinal surveys; mandatory staff training and internal working groups.
- Regular newspaper pieces and radio segment (‘A Little Respect’) to create a space for conversations in our community about important topics related to relationships, gender equality and family violence prevention.
- Community events to bring together men (and others) to destigmatise conversations about social pressures to conform to the ‘man box’ and how to move beyond entrenched ideas about gender to create a community free from violence for everyone.
- Community Resource Guide to Family Violence, which helps us all understand what family violence is, what to look out for, how to sensitively respond when someone discloses they are experiencing family violence, and a comprehensive list of resources and support services available to our community.
- Free From Violence Activity cards, that make understanding concepts related to gender equality and family violence easier to understand and engage with.
- Council actively supports the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, that commences on 25 November and concludes on 10 December each year. The campaign encourages individuals and organisations to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. To learn more about current events and initiatives, please visit What's On - Murrindindi Shire Council and search for 16 Days.