A collective commitment to improving community safety took centre stage at the Violence Reduction Unit’s (VRU) inaugural CEO Forum, which brought together more than 100 senior leaders from organisations that support children, young people, families and communities every day.
The forum provided a platform to strengthen connections across the state’s service system and develop more local solutions to violence reduction and prevention.
The event sparked open and constructive discussions about the need for a deeply integrated, partnership-based approach to more effectively address complex community safety challenges.
There was a strong, sector-wide commitment to strengthening collaboration, addressing service gaps and maintaining momentum for reform over the long-term as Victoria’s ‘coalition of the willing’ or ‘chorus of hope’.
The senior leaders emphasised the importance of moving beyond reactive responses to violence and investing in evidence-based, early interventions that reflect the priorities, strengths and needs of local communities.
Keynote speaker Professor Alistair Fraser, who led a three-year study into the public health approach to violence reduction, shared insights into the impact of VRUs internationally and how they’ve been implemented overseas.
A public health approach treats violence as preventable rather than inevitable. By focusing on root causes, data-informed interventions and population-level outcomes, it seeks to stop violence before it starts.
You can watch the video below to hear Professor Fraser’s full presentation, and an introduction from VRU CEO Andrea Davidson.
Putting theory into practice, the VRU’s Youth Impact Collective (YIC) led an interactive workshop that drew on the CEOs’ expertise to explore existing services and initiatives, identify missed intervention opportunities and drive discussion about what additional services may be needed.
The YIC’s presentation provided valuable context for broader discussions about prevention, systems change and the critical role communities play in reducing violence and improving outcomes for young people.
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