The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is the peak body representing and supporting Victoria’s 79 councils through advocacy, capacity building, and policy advice.
Victoria is committed to ending violence against women. As the level of government closest to the community, local government has an important role to play in promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women (PVAW). Nous worked with MAV to evaluate the local government’s role and MAV’s supporting role in PVAW in order to identify untapped opportunities.
Nous conducted an illuminative evaluation that explored the role of councils in gender equality and PVAW through the themes of leadership, spaces, capability, and resources. Our approach consisted of:
MAV released the evaluation along with its 2017 Prevention of Violence Against Women Booklet at the Local Government PVAW Showcase in August 2017 and promoted both reports widely; including through a website; an evaluation summary report sent to all Victorian mayors; and a letter sent to all mayors across Australia. This resulted in a substantial increase in the number of unique visits to MAV’s Gender Equality page.
The summary and full reports are available at the MAV Gender Equality website here, under the section ‘Evaluation of the role of local government in preventing violence against women’.