We’re working alongside Ballarat trades through the Building Respect Initiative to help drive cultural change and prevent gender-based violence through education, advocacy and respectful workplaces.
During Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month, CatholicCare Victoria (CCV) is shining a light on the role communities, workplaces and everyday conversations play in preventing gender-based violence. As part of the Building Respect Initiative, CCV is working alongside the Ballarat building and trades industry to help create safer, more respectful workplaces and relationships.
To explore why this work matters, we spoke with CCV Senior Manager of Family Relationship & Wellbeing Services, Domenic Vigilanti, about prevention, respectful culture, and the importance of empowering bystanders to speak up.
The Building Respect Initiative is part of Respect Ballarat, a community-led approach to preventing gender-based violence. Developed in partnership with local organisations, the initiative focuses on addressing the drivers of violence before it occurs and strengthening respectful relationships across the community.
For CCV, being involved in this work is about supporting safer communities through prevention, education and connection.
“Violence prevention isn’t just about responding when harm has already occurred,” Domenic explains. “It’s about creating environments where respect, equality and accountability become part of everyday culture.”
“Violence prevention isn’t just about responding when harm has already occurred. It’s about creating environments where respect, equality and accountability become part of everyday culture.”
CCV’s program, Building Respect – Construction and Trades Culture Shift, has been designed specifically for men and employers working in the construction and trades industry.
Domenic says the sector faces unique pressures that can contribute to unhealthy workplace cultures if left unaddressed.
“These are often high-pressure, male-dominated environments,” he says. “Long hours, job insecurity and entrenched attitudes can sometimes create conditions where disrespectful behaviour or gender inequality becomes normalised.”
Importantly, the initiative is not about blaming individuals or industries. Instead, it focuses on creating positive cultural change and building on the strengths already present within workplaces.
“We want to work with the men who are already doing the right thing,” Domenic says. “Those people have enormous influence. They can lead by example, mentor others and help challenge harmful behaviour in respectful ways.”
A key part of the initiative is helping people feel confident to respond when they witness disrespectful or harmful behaviour.
“For a long time, people may have felt uncomfortable speaking up,” Domenic says. “But prevention happens when bystanders become the majority — when people no longer accept harmful behaviour as ‘just the way things are.’”
Over the next 12 months, CCV practitioners will visit workplaces across Ballarat to deliver regular toolbox talks focused on respectful relationships, gender equality and family violence prevention.
The conversations are designed to be practical, approachable and supportive.
“Sometimes speaking up doesn’t have to be confrontational,” Domenic explains. “It can be as simple as changing the topic, walking away from a conversation, or showing through your actions that you don’t agree.”
He says these small moments matter.
“When people see others not buying into disrespectful behaviour, it helps shift what becomes acceptable in a workplace culture.”
“Sometimes speaking up doesn’t have to be confrontational. It can be as simple as changing the topic, walking away from a conversation, or showing through your actions that you don’t agree.”
CCV hopes the initiative will continue well beyond the initial 12-month project.
The organisation will also provide additional training for workplace champions who want to become advocates for domestic violence prevention and awareness. These champions will be supported to continue conversations within their teams and help embed respectful culture into everyday workplace practice.
“We want employers to see this as part of their long-term culture,” Domenic says. “Not just a project for one year.”
That includes incorporating family violence awareness and respectful behaviour into workplace inductions, ongoing training and visible messaging onsite.
“When someone walks onto a site, we want them to know this is a workplace that values respect and gender equality.”
Domenic believes prevention also requires people to reflect on what healthy masculinity and respectful relationships look like.
“There’s always an opportunity for growth,” he says. “You don’t have to be in crisis to reflect on how you’re going as a person, how you treat others, or the example you’re setting for the next generation.”
At its heart, the Building Respect Initiative is about creating communities where everyone feels safe, respected and valued.
“It’s a win for workplaces, it’s a win for families and it’s a win for the community,” Domenic says. “When we build respectful relationships, everybody benefits.”
CCV continues to provide a range of specialised family violence support services, including counselling and support for victim survivors, individuals using violence, and families impacted by family violence.
