Respect Ballarat Grants Announced

The Ballarat Foundation, in partnership with Respect Victoria and with the support of the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Ingrid Stitt, has announced the recipients of 11 grants to advance the work of Respect Ballarat.

Respect Ballarat is a community designed approach to preventing gendered violence. Co designed with local people and organisations, the model aims to reach the whole Ballarat community in the places where people work, learn, live and play.

Beginning in the coming weeks, funded organisations will deliver targeted 12 month prevention and early intervention initiatives that address the gendered drivers of violence. Together, these projects reflect the strength of local partnerships and Ballarat’s shared commitment to creating a safer and more respectful community.

A whole of community approach

The funded initiatives will take a whole community approach, reaching into sporting clubs, schools, TAFE, faith communities, workplaces, construction sites and family settings. Together, they reflect a shared commitment to strengthening gender equality, building respectful relationships and addressing the underlying drivers of violence before it occurs.

Jacki Whitwell, Deputy Chair of the Ballarat Foundation, “These grants demonstrate the power of local partnerships to create lasting change. Ballarat has an extraordinary network of organisations committed to prevention and early intervention, and this program will help strengthen collaboration, build knowledge and deliver practical solutions that make our community safer and more respectful for everyone.”

Programs will work with young people in local sporting clubs to challenge harmful gender stereotypes and equip male leaders with the knowledge and confidence to model respect both on and off the field. In education settings, partnerships will strengthen respectful relationships work in schools and build prevention understanding within TAFE, including a focus on unpacking harmful masculinities.

Support for families is also central. Initiatives will work with new parents to help build safe and healthy family environments and promote gender equality in the early years. Community led programs will partner with culturally diverse leaders, young people and families to strengthen local knowledge and action, while targeted approaches in construction and trades settings will explore practical ways to shift culture and promote respect in male dominated industries.

Young LGBTIQA+ people will be supported through community led initiatives designed to build knowledge of healthy relationships and strengthen understanding of how to recognise and respond to violence.

As Helen Bolton, CEO of Respect Victoria said, “When prevention threads are effectively woven across spaces and communities, change will ripple out.” The breadth of initiatives reflects Ballarat’s readiness to embed prevention across sectors and settings.

The announcement was framed by a powerful artwork featured on the stage by Cathy Oddie, visually reinforcing the shared commitment to respect, inclusion and community led change that sits at the heart of Respect Ballarat.

Successful grant recipients include:

Centre for Multicultural Youth, Join Us For Change, $99,180

Headspace Ballarat, Trade Voices: Understanding Help Seeking and Respect in FED TAFE, $100,000

Ballarat Community Health, Expect Respect: Changing the script on relationships, $100,000

Ballarat Community Health, Baby Makes 3, $99,200

Ballarat Community Health, Building Gender Equity in the Early Years, $73,309

Ballarat Community Health, Positive Wellbeing in Sporting Clubs, $33,000

Sports Central, Ballarat Allies in Sport, $90,000

St Alipius Parish Ballarat East and Parishes of the Ministry District, Faith Communities Focusing on Prevention: Building Respectful Communities, $95,600

Drummond Street Services QHub, Respectful Queer Relationships, $37,877

Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault CASA, Grampians Health, Culture of Respect Round: Central Highlands Football and Netball League, $99,847

CatholicCare Victoria, Building Respect – Construction and Trades Culture Shift, $100,000