Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — My constituency question is to the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence. What advice or guidance can the minister provide to members of the Yuroke Youth Advisory Council who are currently preparing to run an anti‑violence campaign in the community? The Yuroke Youth Advisory Council (YAC) comprises secondary students from the Yuroke electorate who discuss and advise me on matters of importance to youth in our community. Earlier this year the YAC decided to run an anti‑violence campaign intended to coincide with Victorians Against Violence month in November and White Ribbon Day on 25 November. As the minister knows, family violence is of particular concern in the Hume area. In the period between April 2015 and March 2016 there were 3030 recorded incidents, a figure which has sadly only risen with each new reporting period since 2011. I, along with YAC members Flora, Brittany, Jet, Alex, Lizzy, Sidney, Carly, James and Alicia, look forward to any advice the minister can provide on this matter.

Answer:

I would like to thank the Member for raising the Yuroke Youth Advisory Council with me. It is wonderful to hear that young people in the community are engaging with this extremely important issue. I would also like to acknowledge the participation of the Yuroke Youth Advisory Council at the Gender Equality Consultation that was held for young Victorians.

A key part of the Government’s approach to ending family violence is focusing on innovative prevention initiatives that are designed to dismantle harmful attitudes towards women, promote gender equality and encourage respectful relationships.

One of the key initiatives that aims to achieve this is the Victoria Against Violence campaign, now in its second year. The campaign will once again unite the whole community across metropolitan and regional Victoria through awareness-raising activities and events that highlight our commitment to ending this harm.

Local organisations and businesses across our community will be invited to ‘Go Orange’ to show support for Victoria Against Violence, host an orange event or community activity during the 16 days and join the conversation on social media. I encourage the Yuroke Youth Advisory Council to seek further information from the Office of Prevention and Women’s Equality closer to the launch of the campaign, to see how the Youth Advisory Council can get involved.

Once again, I appreciate your efforts to address this harm and wish you all the best for your campaign in Yuroke.

Fiona Richardson MP
Minister for Women
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence