INSIDE: A TOUGH GIG ON SOON, PET OF THE WEEK + MORE
Council News CITY OF WAGGA WAGGA
FIRST PRINTED SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2018
Issue No: 212
Weekly information from us to you LOCAL LEGENDS: (From left) Brian Plummer, Wendy Callis and Brian Favell were among some of the longest serving employees recognised by Council.
Long-serving employees recognised There’s something special about starting a new job as a teenager and 45 years later being recognised by the same employer for loyalty and long service. It’s an achievement for which Wendy Callis and Brian Favell were last week honoured by Wagga Wagga City Council for their long service to Local Government and the community which started way back in 1973. Story continued inside
Working together for gender equity Wagga Wagga has taken a leading role in NSW to tackle the attitudes and behaviours linked to increased rates of Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) in the city.
and prioritise gender equality. Council unanimously voted to support the partnership at its 10 September meeting and planning for the $1.25 million three-year program is now underway, giving Council the opportunity to be a leader through the initiative. Council’s Director Community Janice Summerhayes said the initiative is a whole-of-community approach and will involve various sectors and industries across the city. A partnership program between “It’s about changing attitudes and Wagga Wagga City Council, beliefs and Wagga will lead the Wagga Women’s Health Centre way,” Ms Summerhayes said. and Murrumbidgee Primary Health “This is a partnership project that Network will centre around the will play some part over the next Gender Equity Project which aims three years in tackling attitudes to address community attitudes
and behaviours around gender equity and other drivers that we know have some contribution to DFV. “Because it is a partnership with the community, and whilst council will look at specific organisational practices itself, it will also engage other community sectors and industries to do the same.” A successful funding application to the NSW Government in February this year highlighted that Wagga’s recorded rate of DFV is 29 per cent higher than the NSW average. This increased 40 per cent in the last five years while the NSW average remained stable. “We will be looking at a whole range of things including respectful and positive
relationships,” Ms Summerhayes said. “This project is not a case management or crisis response project - it’s a whole-of-community primary prevention project. “Primary prevention is identified as a significant gap in Wagga’s current approach to addressing DFV. With this project focused on primary prevention across the whole community, we are looking forward to working with representatives such as the local Member of Parliament, police, sporting groups and the university. “Objectives will be focused on changing attitudes and beliefs, recognising that rigid gender stereotypes and norms, and gender inequality, are the main
drivers of DFV which create a violence-supportive environment.” In 2016 Wagga Women’s Health Centre conducted a “community attitudes survey” in Wagga which identified that many community members had low support for gender equality. It also identified attitudes and beliefs that justify or excuse, trivialise or minimise DFV, and blame the victim. The Gender Equity Project aims to address these attitudes in Wagga. The project will aim to educate the community on the drivers of DFV, promote and increase support for gender equality and respect for women, and challenge rigid gender roles and stereotypes.