Council's annual Community Walk Against Family Violence will once again return to the streets of Mildura with Victoria's first Gender Equality Commissioner confirmed as the keynote speaker for this year's event.
To be held on Friday 18 November 2022 to coincide with White Ribbon Day, Dr Niki Vincent will open proceedings before participating in the walk to Mildura's Riverfront.
Dr Vincent was appointed as Victoria's first Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner in September 2020. She is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Gender Equality Act 2020 and plays a key leadership role in promoting gender equality in the Victorian community and workplaces.
Dr Vincent has a wealth of experience in gender equality and organisational leadership. This includes serving as the South Australian Commissioner for Equal Opportunity from 2016-2020.
Representing Council's White Ribbon Committee, General Manager Corporate Chris Parham said Dr Vincent would be a powerful voice to start this year's White Ribbon Walk.
"Council's commitment to stopping family and gendered violence in our community is well known," Mr Parham said. "But our recent work preparing our first Gender Equality Action Plan really reaffirmed for us the role that ingrained gender stereotypes play in family violence and violence against women in particular."
Council's annual Community Walk Against Family Violence, which coincides with national White Ribbon Day, will take place on Friday 18 November, starting at midday in the Langtree Mall. The walk was last held in 2019 before being moved online in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Dr Vincent will speak at the start of the walk, before leading the hundreds of residents once again expected to take to Mildura's CBD to raise awareness about White Ribbon and men's violence against women.
The walk will take participants from the centre of the Langtree Mall, along Langtree Avenue to Seventh Street and down the Langtree Avenue connection. It will then make its way to the Mildura riverfront lawns where there will be information stalls and displays from key local service providers involved in dealing with and preventing family and gendered violence.
The event will conclude with a free community barbecue.
