Departure Lounge with Tracey Gaudry Respect Victoria

Episode 373,   Nov 25, 2019, 12:06 AM

It's been one year since Respect Victoria was enshrined in legislation, becoming Victoria’s first agency dedicated to the prevention of all forms of family violence and violence against women.

The establishment of Respect Victoria represents a critical component of Victoria's family violence architecture, fulfilling Recommendation 188 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Respect Victoria leads on two of the five pillars outlined in Free from Violence: Victoria’s strategy to prevent family violence and all forms of violence against women – to engage and communicate with the community, and research and evaluate.

Anniversaries are important milestones, and they rarely get opportunities to celebrate in their line of work. Too often, a scan of the news headlines adds a new name to the list of lives lost to violence, and reminds us of the far-reaching, devastating impact that violence has on families and communities across Victoria.

Primary prevention means stopping violence before it starts. As it currently stands, family violence results in a police call-out every two minutes in Australia. If we can change attitudes that lead to early forms of family violence and violence against women, then over the course of a generation we can change the statistics that occur at the other end of the violence spectrum.

Change doesn’t happen quickly, but Respect Victoria’s legislative remit means an enduring focus and funding for family violence prevention.

CEO Tracey Gaudry checked into the Departure Lounge to mark the milestone and discuss how we can do our part to make our community safer.