An Australian-first guide to gender equality and respect is to be rolled-out across Victorian TAFEs.
Minister for Training and Skills, Gayle Tierney said the new step-by-step guide, Respect and Equality in TAFE, included written and visual resources that worked alongside a dedicated website.
“(The Guide encourages) TAFEs to create change by implementing equality action plans, fostering female leadership, encouraging female students to enrol in non-traditional courses and supporting staff to identify and respond to incidents on-campus,” Ms Tierney said.
“Teachers at Melbourne Polytechnic, which was one of six TAFEs involved in the pilot, have already developed a project for VCAL students to reflect on their own values and behaviours relating to family violence and prevention,” she said.
“The initiative responds to key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence.”
Ms Tierney said the Guide and initiative would have a huge ripple effect beyond TAFE communities, “sending a loud message that violence against women and families has no place in Victoria”.
The Minister said the Guide was supported by an $800,000 allocation from the State and was led by Our Watch, a not-for-profit organisation working on the primary prevention of violence against women and their children, in collaboration with Victorian TAFEs.
The 57-page Guide can be accessed on the Our Watch website at this PS News link and the Guide’s dedicated website at this link.
