Redland City Council has won the Local Government Association of Queensland’s (LGAQ) annual award for local leadership in preventing domestic and family violence.
Council was named this year’s local government winner of the Alison Woolla Award for its advocacy for a comprehensive response to domestic and family violence and championing the cause to raise awareness and funding for critical intervention.
The award was presented to Redlands mayor Karen Williams and chief executive Andrew Chesterman at the LGAQ 127th Annual Conference in Gladstone.
Redland City Council expanded beyond its community impact and also set an example as an employer, the LGAQ added in a statement.
The LGAQ noted that Redland City was one of the first local governments in Australia to implement workplace strategies to support employees who may be affected by violence or abuse.
“In the area of domestic and family violence prevention, we can make a difference working as a community,” Cr Williams said.
“We can send the message that society does not accept this, that society does care, that society does still operate on values of respect, empathy, support and decency, and that we do protect each other.”
Chesterman said that spirit of caring was enacted and encouraged in all of council’s workplaces.
“As an employer we offer support options including DFV leave entitlements, flexible work arrangements, workplace safety plans, peer support officers and confidential third-party support and counselling,” he said.
Through its actions, Redland City Council aided the delivery of desperately needed frontline services and support, the LGAQ said.
The Maybanke crisis accommodation complex is a safe haven for Redlands Coast women and children escaping family violence.
Council’s fundraising has helped deliver four new accommodation units and a children’s play area for the complex.
The LGAQ said Diner en Rouge, Redland City Council’s fundraiser, hosted by Cr Williams, continued to be the key driver of funds for the Maybanke complex.
The event brings together community, government and business leaders and to date has raised more than $455,000.
The Alison Woolla Award was launched by LGAQ in 2020 to honour the legacy of the late Alison Woolla, a former Mayor of Aurukun and dynamic reform leader, who provided support for members of her community when they were experiencing abuse, opening her home to them with her.
