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Gender Equity

For many years, Banksia Gardens Community Services has been a local pioneer in the push for gender equality and ending violence against women through its Good People Act Now (GPAN) project. In 2019, BGCS made gender equity an organisational key priority area, establishing a gender equity working group to help drive this change across all of the organisation’s operations.

Banksia Gardens Community Services is committed to honouring the rights of all people to dignity, equity, respect, and the freedom to safely express who they are, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and those with diverse bodies. BGCS is devoted to celebrating diversity, valuing and affirming all people who identify as part of the LGBTIQ+ community.

As we strive to create a more equitable workplace and community, we encourage all staff, volunteers and members of the Banksia Gardens and wider Hume community to join us in this journey. We invite you to explore some of the programs specifically looking at gender equality, and to read further about how we are transforming our own practices to be more gender equitable.

Programs

Towards Equality 2020 & Beyond

Towards Equality 2020 & Beyond aims to build the capacity of three local grassroots organisations to understand and advocate for the promotion of gender equality

Girls Circle

The Girls’ Circle program provides a safe space for girls aged 10-14 years old from diverse cultural backgrounds to come together, socialize and discuss relevant

Group of people in a classrom celebrating

Good People Act Now (GPAN)

The Good People Act Now (GPAN) Project is a youth-led community group in Broadmeadows, Victoria, working to promote gender equality and end violence against women

Gender equity: what's the problem?

Violence against women and family violence is a growing epidemic in Australia.

The major underlying cause of violence against women is gender inequality. Gender inequality is discrimination on the basis of sex or gender, resulting in unequal treatment, privilege and prioritisation of a sex or gender.

The city of Hume consistently records some of the highest rates of violence against women in Metropolitan Melbourne compared to other local government areas. In 2020, Hume ranked second in Metropolitan Melbourne for rates of family violence (Victorian Women’s Health Atlas).

Violence against women is preventable and we all have the power to make change. We must create a society of equality for all people, regardless of gender. Together, we can make a difference.

Banksia Gardens Community Services Gender Equity Working Group

To address the high rates of family violence in Hume, Banksia Gardens focuses on gender equity as a means of preventing violence against women and creating a more equitable and fair community for all.

In 2019, the organisation established a Gender Equity Working Group to lead this work. Since the working group formed it has:

Appointed a Gender Equity Coordinator and Gender Equity Officer
Created the organisation’s first Family Violence Policy and Gender Equity Policy
Conducted a gender audit of 43 workplace policies
Conducted multiple ‘Workplace Equality and Respect’ staff surveys
Sourced training opportunities to upskill staff
Created equal access to parental leave for staff

Some of the gender equity work at Banksia Gardens was featured in Women’s Health in the North’s publication Preventing Violence against Women: Stories of achievement from Melbourne’s north (2020).

We will continue this work and encourage others to take action to improve gender equity too. If you or your organisation are interested in our experience making these changes, or you want to collaborate on gender equity initiatives, please get in touch.