The City of Greater Bendigo is inviting interested members of the public to attend an “Achieving Respect and Gender Equality” forum and workshop to be held on Wednesday February 22, 2012 at the Capital Theatre, View Street Bendigo.
City of Greater Bendigo Director of Planning and Development Prue Mansfield said the aim of the forum and workshop is to bring people together to work on ways to build respect and gender equality at both a state and local level.
“Some of the themes that will be explored on the day include preventing violence against women in the home and workplace, elder abuse and community safety in the street.
“Local Government plays an important role in contributing to violence prevention in the community by working with a range of stakeholders to promote community safety and healthy living. The community’s desire for the City of Greater Bendigo to take action relating to violence prevention is reinforced in the Greater Bendigo 2036 Community Plan and Council Plan 2009-2013 (updated 2011),” said Ms Mansfield.
She said a line up of speakers from the Office of Women’s Policy, Women’s Health Victoria, City of Maribyrnong, White Community Health Services and Salvation Army will address the forum on a range of topics.
“The City of Greater Bendigo is currently developing a Violence Prevention Plan and the information gathered at the forum will be used to inform the plan.
“We hope to find out the answers to a number of questions such as what are the key issues and opportunities in terms of violence prevention for Greater Bendigo, what are some actions that could be undertaken to prevent violence and who can we partner with to achieve these actions.
“I would like encourage anyone with an interest in achieving respect and gender equality to attend this free forum and workshop,” said Ms Mansfield.
The Hon Damian Drum will open the free forum and workshop. Anyone interested in attending can download a registration form from the City of Greater Bendigo website or by emailing socialplanning@bendigo.vic.gov.au. For further information or questions please contact Romina Lougoon on 5434 6079.