Cross-sectoral collaborative partnerships provide an important platform for addressing violence against women at local government, regional and even national levels. This symposium explores three different projects that illustrate the effectiveness of collaborative partnerships in addressing the interrelated health and social issues of gender inequality and violence against women. Examining the findings of the three partnership project evaluations, we consider their potential impacts and learnings regarding collaborative partnerships in this area. We explore elements in each of the projects relating to effective outcomes, enablers and challenges, as well as the complexity of adapting theory into practice within an often changing organisational environment.
1. The Monash Health and inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence Health Justice Partnership (HJP) was designed to increase access to justice for culturally and linguistically diverse women experiencing family violence in Melbourne’s Outer East. Taking a social determinants approach to health, HJPs were developed in response to research suggesting people often experience co-occurring legal and health issues. With increased access to justice, it was expected the women’s health and wellbeing would improve (Health Justice Australia, 2018). This paper explores the sustainability of these partnerships and contributes to the knowledge pool on best practice for multidisciplinary approaches to client services.
2. Together for Equality and Respect (TFER) is a collaborative cross-sector partnership founded in 2012 with a shared vision to prevent men’s violence against women across the Eastern Metropolitan Region (EMR) of Melbourne. This presentation discusses the interconnections of theory and practice as part of developing, implementing and evaluating a collective impact approach to prevention of violence against women. It focuses on how theoretical approaches (including systems thinking, collective impact and developmental evaluation) have been utilised to align work and maximise outcomes for a partnership of over thirty organisations in a complex and changing environment.
3. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests arts initiatives increase social connection and promote social change. However, this has not been examined in the context of gender equality. The VicHealth Gender Equality through the Arts (GEARTS) program supports local councils to partner with arts organisations to deliver arts-based projects that promote gender equality and raise awareness of the harms associated with gender inequality. Seven local council projects are included in this study. This paper examines the partnership model, program impact, and processes that support arts-based projects to achieve the long-term goal of increasing gender equality.