AFL Barwon has partnered with the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre (The SAFV Centre) to be community leaders in the prevention of family violence throughout the Barwon region through the Respect Starts Here Program.

This initiative aligns with the Guidelines for Preventing Violence Against Women: Taking Action Through Community Sport. It is designed to support community leaders to promote gender equality and respect through increasing awareness and understanding of the drivers of sexual and family violence, to create an opportunity for change, and prevent local family and sexual violence. 

Sporting clubs have an essential role in preventing family violence and violence against women. They are prime environments for influence and instigators of change as they build connections and belonging within local communities.

Ocean Grove Football Netball Club has signed on as a participant of the program for the 2023 season. Spokesperson for the club, Pip Jankowski explained they understand their influence amongst the community and that the initiative is an integral part of upholding key club values.

“The Respect Starts Here Program was a good fit as it clearly aligned with two of the Club’s values – Respectful and Inclusive. We are well placed to create gender equal environments that promote respect, inclusion and safety,” Pip said.

When faced with the grim statistics that one in four women experience violence from an intimate partner by age 15, and the fact gender inequality contributes to the murder of around one Australian woman almost every week, the club’s spokesperson disclosed they were confronted.

“These statistics are confronting but important to understand and are the reason why we need to create environments of equality and respect,” Pip stated.

Taking on their own initiative, the club has assembled a Club Action Group that is designed to help inform the Respect Starts Here Program by bringing together a diverse range of people, experiences, thinking and ideas. They recognise the most important outcomes of the program are “increasing our understanding of violence against women, the drivers of violence, and how we can prevent it,” said the spokesperson.

Similarly, St. Albans Football Club, who see the Respect Starts Here initiative as a “positive step forward”, has also embraced the program for the 2024 season.

Mark Sinkinson explained the club sees the value in the program and believes it is an important way of “reinforcing what our behaviours and standards are. [The program] allows for open and informed discussion on how to address the issues,” he said.

The club is committed to ensuring the progress and success of the initiative by maintaining support for its community leaders to encourage change.

“We are continuing to reinforce our agreed standards and ensure support is provided to leaders and members who call out and action inappropriate behaviour, along with acknowledging scenarios where positive action is displayed,” stated Mark. 

Portarlington Football Netball Club undertook the Respect Starts Here one-off workshop in 2023. Club Well-Being Consultant Kelly Pickard highly recommends clubs stay educated in this space. "I would recommend it [Respect Starts Here Program] to another club to encourage them to be on the front foot with their education. Having more education can allow people to become more aware of interactions with family, friends, and themselves."

Kelly reflected on the Club’s decision to join the program “We wanted to be proactive in providing education to our club with providing netballers, footballers, committee members and coaches an opportunity to participate. Bringing the concepts to a conscious level, is a great way for the club to be proactive in preventing areas discussed in the program to surface” Kelly said.

The Respect Starts Here Program is implemented through two unique streams; Getting Started and All In. The introductory Getting Started stream includes three collaborative sessions that support clubs to identify and set priorities for gender equality in sport and build the capacity of leaders within the club to promote equality and respect.

The All In stream supports clubs to take an in-depth approach to understanding and addressing gender equality in sport. This collaborative and tailored program aims to build the knowledge and capacity of all club members from the age of 14. It identifies the club’s gender equality needs, develops a plan for action, and builds messages to promote gender equality through the club, with additional Active Bystander and Responding to Discourse training for club leaders.

Thanks to funding from the Geelong Community Foundation, AFL Barwon and The SAFV Centre are able to deliver the Respect Starts Here Program free of charge for all local football and netball clubs.

Both Ocean Grove Football Netball Club, Portarlington Football Netball Club, and St. Albans Football Club are encouraging other clubs to join the fight against family and sexual violence and engage in the Respect Starts Here Program.

“We would highly recommend that other clubs undertake the program. Sport and recreation has been identified as a priority setting with high potential for impact for preventing violence against women. The Program is well supported by The SAFV Centre and Leisure Networks, with experts who guide you through the Program.” said Pip Jankowski

“The more information that can be provided around this topic the better,” Mark Sinkinson agreed.

Author: Nine Hyde (AFL Barwon Intern)

About the Respect Starts Here Program

Registrations are now open for the 2024 season of Respect Starts Here, a program that supports our Football and Netball clubs to progress gender equality and promote respect within their club and community.

Clubs are invited to register for one of two streams, designed to support clubs who are either exploring what gender equality means for them, or a more advanced stream for clubs ready to go All in. Both streams help clubs to identify goals and actions to support gender equality, and build capacity of members to stand up for equality and respect within the club.

The program will be delivered over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and is delivered free of charge thanks to the Geelong Community Foundation Major Grants Program. Respect Starts Here is run by The Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre.

Stream 1: Getting started

Getting Started supports your club to identify and set priorities for gender equality in sport and build capacity of leaders within the club to promote equality and respect.

Club leaders participate in 3 collaborative sessions:

1. Gender Equality Quick Wins workshop - to identify your club’s priorities for promoting gender equality and respect within your club. The outcome of this workshop will be sent to the committee for review and approval.
2. Poster display and key messaging workshop – a collaborative session to tailor gender equality and respect messages for your club based on your gender equality priorities. Along with club photos/images, the key messages will be turned into posters for display around the club and on social media to communicate the values and priorities of the club.
3. 1x Bystander action and responding to disclosure workshop for club leaders – this session builds the capacity of leaders to stand up to disrespectful attitudes and behaviours. It will teach the core elements of responding to someone disclosing an experience of sexism, bullying, sexual assault, or violence within the home.

Getting started is a program for people who take on leadership roles across the club including committee members, coaches, coordinators, captains, and informal peer leaders.

Stream 2: All in

All in supports your club to take an in-depth approach to understanding and addressing gender equality in sport. This collaborative and tailored program spans two seasons, building the knowledge and capacity of all club members from the age of 14.

The All in leadership group (Club Action Group) participates in 4 collaborative in-person sessions across the 2024 season:

1. Respect Starts Here information session and inaugural planning meeting.
2. Poster display and key messaging workshop – a collaborative session to tailor gender equality and respect messages for your club. Along with club photos/images, the key messages will be turned into posters for display around the club and on social media to communicate the values and priorities of the club.
3. Gender Equity Needs Assessment workshop and member survey – this session aims to understand the current state of gender equality in the club, the club’s priorities and goals for gender equality and respect within the club. It includes a whole of club member survey that provides an opportunity for all club members to contribute to the process.
4. Gender Equity Action Plan workshop – building on the data collected through the needs assessment and member survey, this workshop supports the club action group to create an achievable plan for action to meet the club’s gender equality goals.  Action plans are then brought to the club committee for approval.

The program expands to whole-of-club in the 2025 season:

1. 1x Bystander action and responding to disclosures workshop for club leaders – this session builds the capacity of leaders to speak up against disrespectful attitudes and behaviours. It will teach the core elements of responding to someone disclosing an experience of sexism, bullying, sexual assault, or violence within the home.
2. Bystander action workshops for members – the 90min workshops build the capacity of members to stand up to disrespectful attitudes and behaviours. Workshops are generally delivered in place of a training and are for members 14 years and up.
3. Action plan implementation sessions­– up to 3 meetings of the club action group with The SAFV Centre to check in on the implementation of the action plan (developed in the first half of the program) and identify areas for further support.

All in is a whole-of-club program. A Club Action Group of 8-12 people from across the club is convened to lead the gender equality work. The group should represent the various groups within the club including committee members, coaches, coordinators, captains, parents, and other engaged members from football and netball, and junior clubs if applicable.  Active bystander workshops are delivered to all players 14 years and up and can be extended to include parents and social members upon request.

How to Register

To register for Respect Starts Here please click here.

If you would like further information on Respect Starts Here please contact The SAFV Centre Primary Prevention team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.