AMES Australia is undertaking a transformative approach to embedding gender equity across the organisation as a core strategy for the prevention of violence against women. Guided by its Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) and the "Many Voices, One Future" prevention of violence framework, AMES is exploring how primary prevention can be integrated into everyday organisational practice, workforce development, and service delivery.
As a leading provider of settlement, education, and employment services for migrants and refugees, AMES is uniquely positioned to influence social norms at formative points of community connection. This presentation brings together leaders from AMES’ Prevention of Violence Against Women (PVAW) and Education to share how a gender equality informed collaborative, cross-functional approach can effectively drive systemic change. By breaking down internal silos, aligning gender equality milestones with grassroots primary prevention strategies a unified organisational culture of respect and safety can be created.
The presentation will foreground the development of a primary prevention audit designed to establish a baseline of staff attitudes and structural norms. It will showcase the integration of prevention-informed approaches into language pedagogy, settlement orientation, and community leadership programs. For AMES, this work is critical - it moves beyond policy compliance, shifting the focus toward transformational change that resonates within the personal, social, and communal spaces of Australia’s diverse multicultural communities.
By reflecting on the challenges and successes of this collaborative model, the session will highlight how human services organisations can leverage their internal way of working to influence the end violence against women.