SuniTAFE joined forces with every other Victorian TAFE this week to participate in the inaugural Respect and Equality in TAFE (RET) Week.  

The Victorian TAFE community is comprised of thousands of students and hundreds of employed professionals across 16 training Institutes. The capacity for TAFEs to reach the community, then, is enormous.  

In recognition of this, TAFEs across Victoria have dedicated the last week to promoting the importance of respect, equality, and inclusion.  

SuniTAFE marked the occasion with a seminar open to students, staff, and members of the community.  

Former Mildura local Conor Pall was invited as guest speaker on Wednesday to share his lived experience with family violence, while sharing his insights into how the Mildura community can create change in this area.  

“I participated in the event because, as a survivor of family violence, I want all people in our Mildura community to know that violence is an individual choice but a collective community responsibility,” Mr Pall said.  

“That is all of us versus the conditions that enable violence to occur.  

“In my speech, I spoke about how it only takes one person to take a stand against The Shadow that is family violence and that anyone in our community has the ability to be that person.”  

Mildura’s RET Week events have been spearheaded by SuniTAFE’s Head of People and Culture Angela Gransden who acknowledges that family violence is a prevalent issue for Mildura. 

“To have Conor here to talk from his own perspective really resonated with a lot of people,” she said.  

“We want to thank him for the work he does, including his visit to SuniTAFE, and we would like to remind everyone that there is support available.”  

For a list of available crisis and support services, visit the Respect Victoria webpage here.  

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