Local Government Guide for Preventing Family Violence and All Forms of Violence Against Women
Local government is a key partner in the prevention of family violence and all forms of violence against women. Councils are well placed to influence community attitudes and behaviours as service providers, large local employers and municipal leaders.
The Local Government Guide for Preventing Family Violence and All Forms of Violence Against Women (the Guide) was developed by the Victorian Government in partnership with NOUS Group consultants, the MAV, and a co-design process with input from over 150 council representatives and sector partners.
The Guide was developed to build on key learnings from the Free from Violence Local Government Program which ran between 2018-2020, and is the foundation resource to support the next phases of the Program, 2022-2025 and 2023-2026.
The Guide has been designed and is available to assist all councils at an employee and elected representative level to understand what can be done to embed primary prevention of family violence in day-to-day activities, the workplace and in service delivery.
Fifteen councils received funding for the 2022-25 period and a further ten councils will be funded for 2023-2026.
You can read the MAV's media statement on the release of the guide (May 2023).
You can view a presentation (PDF - 2.83MB) or watch a video of a workshop held in August 2023 that includes a selection of councils introducing their application of the guide.
Local Government Guide for Preventing Family Violence and All Forms of Violence Against Women
- Local government guide for preventing family violence and all forms of violence against women (PDF - 6.7MB)
- Local government guide for preventing family violence and all forms of violence against women (accessible) (Word - 3.3MB)
- Summary - Local government guide for preventing family violence and all forms of violence against women (PDF - 1.8MB)
- Summary - Local government guide for preventing family violence and all forms of violence against women (accessible) (Word - 1.1MB)
- Tools (accessible Word versions):
- Action Planning Template - Local Government Guide - Banner (Word - 91 KB)
- Embedding Primary Prevention Worksheets - Local Government Guide - Banner (Word - 147 KB)
- Health Check Tool - Local Government Guide - Banner (Word - 118 KB)
- Prioritising Effort Tool - Local Government Guide - Banner (Word - 92 KB)
Learn more about the Free From Violence Grants Program.