Southern Cross Care (Vic) Lends Support to End Violence Against Women

Leading aged care provider, Southern Cross Care (Vic) once again threw its weight behind White Ribbon Day, with staff and office locations across Victoria taking an active role to raise awareness on the prevention of domestic and family violence. Among the various initiatives planned were workplace morning or afternoon teas, and ‘Wear White to Work’ day.

Southern Cross Care (Vic)’s Executive Manager Workforce & Culture, Danielle Rose, says the organisation is proud of its commitment to help eradicate violence against women.

“Women account for more than 88 per cent of our total workforce of 1400 people. We want to send a strong message that violence against women is unacceptable and has no place in our organisation or the society,” says Ms Rose. “As an accredited White Ribbon Workplace, we have a responsibility to ensure a safe and discrimination-free workplace for our female employees.”

White Ribbon Day also marked the start of the 16 Days of Activism global campaign against genderbased violence, which ends on World Human Rights Day on 10 December.

“Southern Cross Care (Vic) joined thousands of other organisations around the world who have pledged their support for this global campaign. Violence against women is a despicable crime, and to show our support for our local communities, we will tie white ribbons around trees at all our aged care homes and community services offices across Victoria. Throughout the 16-day campaign, we will also provide information and educational materials to all our staff to further raise awareness on domestic and family violence,” says Ms Rose.

“Advancing gender equality and changing people’s attitudes and behaviours towards women is a collective effort. That’s why we are very proud of our employees who are as committed to the cause as we are. If we can change only a few people from this campaign alone, that’s already a great outcome for us.”

Southern Cross Care (Vic) was accredited as a White Ribbon Workplace in June 2016. The organisation merged with Mercy Health in July 2017 to form one of the ten largest not-for-profit aged care providers in the nation.