Inverell has officially been named Australia’s first White Ribbon Community.
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Mayor Paul Harmon made the announcement at Inverell’s black and white masquerade ball on Saturday evening.
After a lengthy 18-month process working with both the White Ribbon community and key stakeholders, Inverell Shire Council received the honourable title.
NSW Health, NSW Police, Premier and Cabinet, Department of Education, local service providers and the council worked closely to develop templates in order to be named Australia’s first White Ribbon Community.
“We had to work out what was required to become a White Ribbon Community, the goals, how to achieve them, symbolically what it meant to have the title…
“Then moving forward how to build on the White Ribbon Community so it wasn’t just about being acknowledged but what could be actively done,” Mr Harmon said.
Other communities around Australia will now build off the foundations of those templates in order to follow suit.
On Saturday evening Mr Harmon congratulated everyone involved in the process from council staff to local agencies.
“I need to thank White Ribbon Australia for their willingness to actually engage with our community when we said we wanted to be recognised as the first White Ribbon Community in Australia,” he said.
The mayor also pointed out the fact the new title would not have been possible if not for the overwhelming buy-in from local community members who embraced the idea.
“Through their encouragement council has been able to pursue this process. There is a number of men who have completed or are in the process of completing an ambassador program run by White Ribbon Australia.”
Mr Harmon himself has engaged in becoming a White Ribbon ambassador and congratulated the local men who had already actively earned the title.
Going forward, Mr Harmon said the action plan entailed building on the work already provided by local service agencies in the Inverell shire.
He said a number of programs were rolling out to educate men and young boys around domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is not acceptable in our community. We have to step back and think a lot of these behaviours are learned, they’ve seen them in a home environment and may believe that it is normal.
“The programs educate males about appropriate behaviours around women,” Mr Harmon said.
Inverell Shire Council also ran a series of surveys to collected the communities outlook on domestic violence.
Mr Harmon said the surveys gave council an idea of what was happening in the community and areas where they could actively advocate resources to assist victims of domestic violence.
”I’m immensely proud and honoured that our community is the first to be recognised.
“It comes from the dedication, hard work and foresight of all people involved in putting this together and they should be congratulated wholeheartedly.”
To learn more about White Ribbon, visit: www.whiteribbon.org.au
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.au for information and support.