Our
purpose
Safe and Equal is the peak body for Victorian organisations that specialise in family and gender-based violence across the continuum, including primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.
Our vision
Our vision is a world where everyone is safe, respected and thriving, living free from family and gender-based violence.
Our work prioritises the safety of all people experiencing, recovering from or at risk of family and gender-based violence. While we know that most family violence is perpetrated by men against women and children, we recognise that family violence impacts people across a diversity of gender identities, social and cultural contexts, and within various intimate, family and other relationships. We apply an intersectional feminist lens in our work to address the gendered drivers of violence, and how these overlap and intersect with additional forms of violence, oppression and inequality.
We believe in and work towards a world where people are not only safe and free from family and gender-based violence, but are respected for who they are and thriving in their lives.
Our purpose
As a peak, we work with and for our members to prevent and respond to violence, building a better future for adults, children and young people experiencing, at risk of, or recovering from family and gender-based violence.
- We bring together evidence, lived experience, practice expertise and collaborative partnerships to mobilise for and effect social, policy and system change.
- We advocate on behalf of and support the development of high-quality services and programs across the continuum.
- We drive the continued development of an innovative and leading family violence sector.
Our guiding principles
Our work is practical and based in evidence about what drives and addresses violence. We cannot respond to, and eventually end, family and gender-based violence without well-informed ideas about what works.
Our guiding commitments describe what we will hold at the centre of our work – the ideas that will shape what, how and with whom we work to deliver on our vision and fulfill our purpose.
Support and ally with Aboriginal communities and organisations to further self-determination
We know that for Aboriginal people and communities to be safe, respected and thriving, we must have self-determined systems and services.
We are committed to Aboriginal self-determination. We work towards strong relationships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, Elders and communities. We will work with, learn from and respect community-led solutions.
We will build our understanding of the impact of colonisation and other forms of discrimination and use this to challenge oppressive and racist systems, and strengthen cultural safety across the family violence service system.
Recognise and respond to diversity of experience and intersecting forms of power and oppression
We know that gender intersects and overlaps with multiple forms of inequality and oppression to drive violence, and compound the impact. This includes oppression experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people from migrant and refugee communities, people of colour, LGBTIQA+ communities, and people living with disabilities. We also recognise the influence of age, location and socio-economic disadvantage, amongst other factors.
We aim for everything we do to be socially transformative by addressing power, privilege and oppression, with the aim of ending violence for all.
We will advocate for and lead the development of a safe, accessible, inclusive and equitable service system to meet the needs of all people.
Centre and platform lived experience of children, young people and adults affected by violence
We are ultimately accountable to victim survivors of family violence and those who did not survive. Our work is fundamentally shaped by their voices.
We prioritise the safety, wellbeing and agency of victim survivors in all that we do. Our work aims to promote flexible service responses that support them to achieve autonomy and empowerment.
We recognise the unique needs of children and young people affected by family violence. We work to ensure that their voices are heard and strengthen systemic responses to prioritise their safety and wellbeing.
Continue evolving as a member-based, intersectional feminist organisation
Intersectional feminism is foundational to who we are and how we work; it is the primary framework we use to deepen our understanding of the family violence evidence base, build coalitions and partnerships, and engage in critical reflection.
We have grown from a long history of grassroots and community activism. We have evolved over time to meet the changing needs of our members and communities, and to reflect evolving understandings of violence and oppression.
Our work is both evidence-informed and evidence-building, including evidence drawn from practice and lived experience.
Strategic Plan 2024-2027
Safe and Equal is proud to present our Strategic Plan for 2024-27. After a period of world-leading reform in Victoria, we are stepping into a new era.
This Plan represents our commitment to our members, victim survivors, and community to lead through this new era – across the continuum including primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.
We extend our gratitude to our staff, the Board, and our members, for their contributions to this plan and their ongoing commitment to this work.
This Strategic Plan is firmly grounded in hope for a better future where everyone is safe, respected and thriving, living free from family and gender-based violence.
Primary Prevention
Strategy 2022-24
Our Primary Prevention Strategy affirms our role as the peak body for specialist family violence services, working across prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.
The strategy clearly lays out our key role in leading workforce development, and building and sharing specialist expertise drawn from practice.
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