Expressions of Interest for Safe and Equal’s 2026/2027 Prevention Communities of Practice are now open, closing 27 July 2026.
Communities of Practice are a highly valued approach for strengthening the capability, confidence and wellbeing of practitioners working in primary prevention. Safe and Equal’s Communities of Practice provide a collaborative learning environment where practitioners come together to reflect on opportunities and challenges, deepen their practice and strengthen capability, connections and impact across the prevention workforce. Grounded in the principles of shared and relational learning, our Communities of Practice center reflection, dialogue and peer collaboration to support practitioners to learn with and from one another.
Our Communities of Practice are intentionally designed spaces for practitioners to exchange knowledge, ideas and resources, and to build meaningful professional relationships. Drawing on Safe and Equal’s Learning Together resource, the model emphasises peer learning, collective problem-solving and reflexive practice, supported by skilled facilitation. This creates opportunities not only for practical skill development, but also for deeper insight, personal growth and sustained practice change.
Our Communities of Practice also support practitioners to engage with key primary prevention concepts and challenges. Topics explored may include working in partnerships, navigating systems change, responding to resistance and backlash, and engaging men and masculinities in prevention work. The themes discussed are defined by the group.
In 2026–2027, we are offering five free Prevention Communities of Practice for primarily Victorian-based practitioners. Interstate and international practitioners are welcome to apply, however priority will be given to those based in Victoria. Expressions of Interest close 27 July 2026.
Each Prevention Community of Practice includes up to 25 participants and is delivered over eight monthly sessions. Sessions will run from August 2026 to May 2027, with a break over the summer period. Communities of Practice are primarily delivered online, with some opportunities for hybrid sessions in Naarm (Melbourne). Please see below for further information about the Communities of Practice on offer for 2026/2027 and for information about the selection process.
We know that practitioner time is precious and finding time in your schedule for reflective practice and professional development can be challenging. If you need to provide information to your organisation or management to participate in a Community of Practice, please feel free to download our Communities of Practice Information Sheet for organisations here, and send it to your manager. It contains information relating to our Communities of Practice model, the benefit of attendance for practitioners, and for their organisations more broadly.
Find out more and express your interest here
Safe and Equal have recently announced their latest report, Foundations for Action: Understanding the Primary Prevention Workforce in Victoria.
This report examines the landscape of the primary prevention workforce in Victoria, offering comprehensive insights into the diverse range of organisations, practitioners and activities involved.
Created in collaboration with key stakeholders, the report offers valuable insights into workforce needs and presents strategic considerations to strengthen and grow this workforce into the future.
A new Victorian Government resource is helping clubs become champions when it comes to creating respectful and safe sporting environments where gender equality is actively promoted, and gender stereotypes are challenged. Sport plays a valuable role in preventing gender-based violence. It is an important setting for championing equality and challenging gender inequality. While this Guide is primarily focused on community sport, many of the principles, resources and key learnings can apply to active recreation settings.
The Guide is a tool for organisations to work more effectively with a range of community sporting organisations including governing bodies, associations, clubs and volunteers to drive cultural change in community sport.
Our Watch’s previous report, Tracking Progress in Prevention: A national monitoring report on progress towards the primary prevention of violence against women and their children 2020, tracked national progress towards reducing violence against women over 2009 to 2019.
A new report card from Our Watch provides an update with data from 2020 to 2023 and shows that there has been slow but significant improvements across many of the key measures of progress in the prevention of violence against women.
For gender equality and violence prevention activities to be effective, they need to engage everyone, including men and boys from multicultural and faith-based communities. By addressing barriers to engagement, highlighting the benefits of prevention activities, and consulting with communities to build trust and capacity, prevention practitioners can support men from multicultural and faith-based communities to meaningfully participate in primary prevention.
Developed by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and Safe and Equal, this resource draws on the existing evidence base, as well as practice examples from members of the Connecting Communities network to outline their learnings, tools, insights and strategies for working with multicultural and faith-based men.