Casey working on family violence

THE City of Casey was recognised at Local Government awards last week for its work in helping to tackle the widespread problem of family violence in the municipality.
The council was presented with the Service Delivery Initiative Award at the 2014 LGPro Awards for Excellence on Thursday 13 February at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The award recognised the local laws teams for their family violence intervention initiative that aims to reduce family violence incidences within the community.
It is estimated that 40,000 women in Casey have experienced violence from a male person in their lifetime.
The council’s initiative involved training and modifying work practices so local laws officers could become more aware of potential family violence incidences when undertaking work in the community.
In conjunction with the council’s health promotion team and Victoria Police, local laws
officers completed family violence prevention awareness training in May last year.
Training equipped officers with a greater understanding of violence, its gendered nature and how best to respond to likely scenarios that they might face when out in the community.
City of Casey mayor Geoff Ablett said the award acknowledged the outstanding work being undertaken in family violence prevention in the municipality.
“The initiative has assisted local laws officers to identify, respond to and refer family violence victims in an effort to reduce the number of family violence incidences occurring in Casey,” he said.
“Casey’s Violence Intervention Initiative has also strengthened partnerships with Victoria Police and the Family Violence Unit.”
The City of Casey was named finalists in other awards including Caroline Gillies, Strategic Planner for the Young Achievers Award and Home and Community Care for their Interactive Gardening Program.