Penrith City Council Recognised as a White Ribbon Accredited Workplace

Monday, 14 December 2020

Penrith City Council is proud to announce it has officially been recognised as a White Ribbon Australia Accredited Workplace after successfully completing the White Ribbon Australia Workplace Accreditation Program.  

The program, facilitated by community service organisation Communicare, champions a culture of respect and gender equality at all levels of an organisation, and supports organisations to respond to and prevent violence against women.  

Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown OAM said Penrith City Council took part in the accreditation process to equip staff with the knowledge and resources to better understand what gendered violence is, how to identify it and what they can do to prevent it. 

“As part of the accreditation program, we’ve also implemented mandatory and comprehensive Towards Zero staff training. This provides our staff with the knowledge and skills to ‘call it, challenge it and change it’ when faced with inappropriate behaviour. Through Towards Zero we’ve also put robust policies in place, created resources to support victims, and have trained support officers and single point contacts for victims of violence, bullying and harassment.”  

“We’re very proud to be recognised as an official White Ribbon Australia Workplace and to play our part in responding to and ending violence against women, plus developing a strong culture that calls out any forms of violence, bullying or harassment no matter who is experiencing it. It’s incredibly important that we all stand up and speak out against any inappropriate behaviour and hold perpetrators accountable,” Cr McKeown said. 

To achieve accreditation, organisations must meet 15 criteria under three standards to create a safer and more respectful workplace which is taking active steps to stop violence against women. The program is internationally recognised and to date has reached more than 600,000 employees nationally.  

As part of the White Ribbon Australia Workplace Accreditation Program, Council delivered numerous key achievements including the:  

• formation of an internal White Ribbon Steering Committee  
• launch of the Towards Zero Violence, Bullying and Harassment program  
• development and release of our Domestic and Family Violence Support Statement  
• introduction of extended domestic and family violence leave provisions for Council employees  
• creation of resources to assist in our response to victims and perpetrators of violence  
• review of our domestic and family violence workplace risk assessment and workplace safety plan  
• delivery of education and training programs to help build knowledge among employees and People Leaders.  

White Ribbon Australia Executive Director Brad Chilcott congratulated Penrith City Council for joining the more than 240 Australian workplaces to have achieved accreditation.   

“Violence against women impacts on the health and safety of employees, their wellbeing and their productivity. It also has a negative impact on workplace culture, organisational reputation and bottom-line profit and loss. We urge all Australian workplaces to take the lead of Penrith City Council and demonstrate a culture of zero tolerance of violence against women,” said Mr Chilcott.  

White Ribbon Australia is a part of a global social movement working to eliminate gendered violence, striving for an Australian society where all women and children are safe, including in our workplaces.   To find out more, visit the Council website. 

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Monday, 14 December 2020.