Renata Lucas was hired as Moira Shire Council’s equity officer as just one of 35 councils under the ‘Free from Violence Program’ – part of the first action plan for the state government in the prevention strategy.
This project is focused on looking at the workplace and to start with focussing internally before a community component is added towards the end of project.
Newly appointed Ms Lucas explained her role and what it means for the Moira Shire.
“My role is to look at developing whole organisations gender equality strategies and action plans for the organisation to implement,” Ms Lucas said.
“We have a set of workplace standards working through, which focus on key areas including leadership and staff engagement.
“We only received funding for 12 months at this stage and there is a lot to do in the next 12 months.”
Moira applied and were successful for the funding which was open specifically to all local governments within the ‘Free from Violence Strategy’ because it recognises the leadership role local governments play in local communities
Part of this role is also to set up processes, so the project can continue beyond the life of funding it has received so far and form the strategy and action plan existing staff will be able to take forward.
“We like the message from the UN Women International Women’s Day ‘more powerful together’ – when we work together we can do better,” Ms Lucas said.
“It talks about standing in unison for gender equality as it takes men and women to work together because gender equality benefits us all.
“We all have an important role to play and the workplace is just one of those areas we can promote gender equality.”
Ms Lucas explained the differences between equity and equality.
“Equality is about being treated same, if we think about treating people the same from our thinking it doesn’t account for differences where people start off,” Ms Lucas said.
“We’re not recognising differences, so equity is the process of trying to get to equality by recognising that people start from different places and levels in society, need different supports to lift everyone up to be equal and have equal opportunities – to reach their full potential.
“Equity is the process.
“If we can be more tailored in our approaches and hear the voices of everyone and understand different experiences, we will be able to give opportunities for people to be able to achieve what they want to.
“It’s complex, it’s not going to happen overnight or within 12 months, but we can do our bit.
“It’s important because we look back and see the things that were achieved through the women’s movement in the past and we can see that lots of women are entering differing organisations and fields in large numbers, we’ve achieved certain things along the way but there are still issues including the gender pay gap, superannuation etc.
“There is still differences that mean women are more likely to earn less than men leaving them to suffer financial insecurity so there is still a lot of work to do. Everyone being valued, reaching their full potential in the workplace and coming to a workplace they feel safe and included is the goal.”
Ms Lucas said it is important for the community as well, and the Moira Shire see it as important to walk the walk and lead the way in some respects.
“Its an everyday thing, the more people that get involved and convey those messages the better off we will all be,” Ms Lucas said.
“It is really exciting to have nearly half the councils in Victoria working towards the same goal and it is exciting to be part of the bigger picture as well – linking into the state wide gender equality strategy.
“This is a whole state initiative with a national framework also shaped but Victoria are leading the way in this area.
“Victoria is the first state to have a gender equality strategy which comes from the royal commission into family violence which was also a Victorian led initiative into the need to have a prevention strategy, not too many other states are looking at this, so it is fantastic for us as Moira to be involved.”
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