Bunbury-based Waratah Support Centre has been allocated $211,715 to deliver a project that aims to address the key drivers of family and domestic violence through the development of a stage performance, short web-based videos and a film.
Waratah is a not-for-profit organisation that provides family and domestic violence and sexual assault support services throughout the South-West. The project will be delivered in partnership with South West Women’s Health and Information Centre.
The ‘Get Your Act Together’ project is one of a range of initiatives, announced today, that will receive funding through the Family and Domestic Violence Primary Prevention Grants Program.
A total of 17 Western Australian organisations will share in a $3 million election commitment by the McGowan Government for projects that deliver activities working towards the prevention of violence against women and children.
‘Get Your Act Together’ will target 16-to-24-year-olds, identified as a key demographic due to the high impact of family and domestic violence on this age group.
The project will involve the local community and increase understanding of the underlying causes of family and domestic violence, gender equality and how it relates to respectful relationships.
Using a health prevention campaign approach, a central hub and mobile hub will provide health prevention activities, as well as developing a stage performance, short web-based videos and a film, based on the stage performance.
The Family and Domestic Violence Primary Prevention Grants Program recipients have been announced during the State Government’s annual 16 Days in WA – Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
The grant recipients represent a wide variety of organisations located across WA including Perth, Peel, Great Southern, South-West, Kimberley, Mid-West and Pilbara. Project settings and audiences include local governments, youth, small-to-medium enterprises, Aboriginal men as social media influencers, young people in refuges, English as a Second Language schools, early childhood settings and secondary schools.
As stated by Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Simone McGurk:
“I applaud Waratah for taking a different approach with this initiative. It’s a great example of the ways we can help change the underlying attitudes that lead to violence.
“16-to-24-year-olds experience high rates of domestic violence and we need to keep looking for innovative and creative ideas that resonate – helping to stop family and domestic violence before it starts.
“While investment in crisis responses and early intervention remain critically important, they cannot exist in isolation – prevention is key.
“Action at this level is expected to have the greatest impact on reducing family and domestic violence rates, including fatalities, and deliver economic savings in the long term.”
As stated by Waratah Support Centre CEO Rebecca Jury:
“The ‘Get Your Act Together’ project aims to reduce the drivers of family and domestic violence in South-West communities.
“The project includes both central and mobile FDV health information hubs which will host creative design workshops, live performances and the co-development of resources specific to the South-West experience.”
As stated by Bunbury MLA Don Punch:
“This is a fantastic initiative that will speak directly to those most impacted by family and domestic violence.
“Waratah already provides vital supports to people affected by family and domestic violence in the South-West, and ‘Get Your Act Together’ is just another way they are making a meaningful difference in the community.
“Violence against women is preventable if we all work together, and I commend Waratah for leading the way.”
