White Ribbon awards announced

This year’s event was hosted by Outlook Victoria in partnership with Cardinia Shire Council and Aligned Leisure and raises awareness of, and funds for, White Ribbon Australia family violence prevention programs. 

The theme for this year was “Contribute to change, make a difference”. 

Over 75 community members joined the annual White Ribbon event yesterday to hear from keynote speaker Simone O’Brien who is a family violence survivor. Simone shared her story of strength, determination and survival. 

The 2022 Tony Fitzgerald Award to a community group in recognition of their continued efforts in raising awareness and prevent men’s violence against women was awarded to Wayss. 

The 2022 Gary McQuillan Award to the Cardinia Shire Council employee in recognition of their continued efforts in raising awareness and prevent men’s violence against women was awarded to Fiona Cost and Lorna Lablache. 

For many years, both Fiona and Lorna have been an active in the prevention of violence against women at Council.  

Fiona’s role as the Collective Impact Facilitator requires Fiona to work collaboratively with a wide cross section of community and government partners including Victoria Police, Wayss, WHISE, Orange Door, Windermere, Outlook, Monash Health and Aligned Leisure.  

Lorna is an active member and former co-convener of Council’s Respect and Equality Committee. She is an important part of the team who has been working on the various projects and initiatives, including playing a key role in Councils success in achieving White Ribbon Workplace Re-accreditation. 

Cardinia Shire Mayor Councillor Jeff Springfield congratulated this year’s award recipients.  

“Cardinia Shire has one of the highest reported incidents of family violence in Victoria – this is a statistic we are working hard to change through the collective efforts of the community led Together We Can initiative. 

“Council’s position on the issue of family violence is clear: silence is no longer acceptable, and we ask the whole community to build healthier and respectful relationships with one another. 

“Through events like these we can improve men’s understanding of what constitutes family violence and how we can stand up and speak out.” 

This year’s event also showcased a range of Cardinia Shire’s local community services with stalls set up for attendees to explore.  

Stallholders included: 

• The Orange Door 

• Wayss Housing Support Services 

• Trudi’s Angels 

• Pets of the Homeless Australia 

• Purton Place Pre-loved Op Shop 

Attendees were encouraged to bring donations in-kind for these community organisations.  

Entry was by gold coin donation with proceeds going to White Ribbon Australia. 

Family violence support  

For more information about Cardinia Shire Council’s Together We Can initiative, visit Council’s website at www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/familyviolence or call the Together We Can team on 1300 787 624.