Healthy Clubs
Healthy Clubs: Preventing family violence through sport
Sport plays a central role in many peoples’ behaviour, culture and values, not only our sporting clubs but our broader communities as well.
That's why we're the lead agency providing Healthy Clubs, a program delivered in partnership with the Victorian Amateur Football Association, Tennis Victoria, NRL Victoria, Melbourne City Football Club and Women’s Health in the North. The project is designed to promote the link between gender equality; respectful relationships; and the prevention of violence against women, children, and gender diverse people; with clubs and leagues across Victoria.
As part of this program, we have developed and deliver healthy relationship workshops in sporting clubs, associations and leagues, that focus on key issues such as gender roles, building healthy and respectful relationships, resilience building and actions that bystanders can take. The program also supports clubs to develop gender equity action plans across the areas of culture, recruitment, leadership, participation and facilities.
Healthy Clubs focuses strongly on intersectionality, cultural diversity and the development of culturally safe learning content, as well as promoting different forms of masculinity by supporting men to transition into and throughout fatherhood. Workshops have been incredibly well received by participants.
98% of participants were very satisfied with the session.
- 2024 program delivery
Healthy Clubs is delivered with support from the Victorian Government’s Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program.
Watch our latest videos about the program and the impact its having within and beyond sporting clubs across Victoria, and read more about our program aims below.
Program aims
Healthy Clubs is designed to embed gender equity principles in clubs and leagues in order to improve the lives of women, girls, and gender diverse people. It also promotes different forms of masculinity through supporting men’s transition into and during fatherhood.
The program focuses on addressing intersecting forms of inequality as we recognise that gender inequality cannot be separated from other forms of inequality.
Through interactive and educational activities, we promote the links between gender equality, respectful relationships and preventing violence against women; and encourage clubs to invest in gender diverse leadership teams and membership.
Using a whole-of-sport approach, we work with people at all levels of the club hierarchy, from supporters through to executives, to ensure that all those involved with clubs have the opportunity to learn and that changes are club-wide.
Our experience delivering healthy relationships and primary prevention programs
Our organisation has a wealth of experience designing, delivering and evaluating projects across the areas of respectful relationships, mental health, correctional cohorts, fatherhood and family violence.
We are the largest provider of men’s behaviour change programs in Victoria and provide a range of primary prevention initiatives, including our ‘Respect and Connect’ healthy relationships program for schools, and a national Support for Fathers project which engages fathers and professionals to promote gender equality and prevent family violence.
For more information, contact our Centre for Learning and Innovation by emailing [email protected] or by calling us on (03) 8573 2222.