Working together to prevent violence
This Friday, 13 June 2025 the Loddon Consortium for Gender Equality and Violence Prevention (the Consortium) will officially launch its 3-year Strategic Plan, at Mackenzie Quarters in Bendigo. Bringing together staff, partners and stakeholders, the launch will set the scene for how specialist services are working together to deliver better outcomes for rural and regional communities.
The Consortium is a partnership between five specialist gender-based violence organisations across the Loddon area:
- Centre for Non-Violence (CNV)
- Annie North Women’s Refuge
- Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria (CASACV)
- Women’s Health Loddon Mallee
- Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health.
The Consortium was established in 2004, bringing together services working in the specialist gendered violence sectors. The partnership is the only Consortium in Victoria that provides integrated regional programs and services for victim survivors of family and sexual violence, men who use violence towards family members, and works to prevent gendered violence. The Consortium is united in its commitment to working and advocating for gender and social equality and a community free of violence.
Some of the key achievements of the Consortium over the last two decades include the innovative development of integrated services for victim survivors of family and sexual violence and men who use violence towards family members. This includes integrated after-hours response programs (family and sexual violence) and shared intake for the Safe, Thriving and Connected therapeutic recovery programs and services for victim survivors, including children.
The Consortium also has representation on key alliances and networks in the Loddon region and statewide, continuously advocating for a specialist family and sexual violence informed policy and legislative decision making. It is the strategic vision of the Consortium’s work that communities, right across the Loddon area, are able to have safe and accessible services to help prevent, respond to and recover from gendered, family and sexual violence, and to ensure that the voices and experiences of regional and rural communities are listened to when decisions are being made at the State and Federal level.
The new strategic plan is the culmination of two decades of learning and leadership of specialist services and brings an even greater focus on the importance of working together to achieve the change we seek to see: everyone in our community has the right to live a life without fear or violence. The Consortium are excited to launch the Strategic Plan 2025-2028 and look forward to setting the scene for another 20 years of successful collaboration, partnership and advocacy.
If you, or someone you know is experiencing family or sexual violence, or you are concerned about your behaviour towards your family, help is available.
In any emergency call: 000
Centre for Non-Violence: (free call) 1800 884 292
Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria: (03) 5441 0431
The Orange Door Loddon: (free call) 1800 512 359
Safe Steps: (24/7 statewide service) 1800 015 188
Sexual Assault Crisis Line (24/7 statewide service) 1800 806 292
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For any media enquiries please contact:
Dr Clare Shamier, Head of Business Development and Advocacy, Centre for Non-Violence:
m). 0488 281 528