{"id":122790,"date":"2026-06-01T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=122790"},"modified":"2026-05-27T21:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T11:33:56","slug":"cmy-inviting-change-at-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/cmy-inviting-change-at-the-table\/","title":{"rendered":"CMY inviting change at the table"},"content":{"rendered":"

A program tackling issues around gender-based violence is being taken to new settings including primary schools.<\/p>\n

With Respect Victoria funding, the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) is expanding its Join Us At The Table model to bring more people from a range of cultural backgrounds together to share lived experiences and ask questions.<\/p>\n

Through facilitated conversations, Join Us For Change aims to increase grassroots understanding of gender equity, respectful relationships and the drivers of gendered violence.<\/p>\n

Launched on Thursday 14 May, the program’s goals also include shifting attitudes and norms that reinforce inequality, increase risk and limit the roles and potential of women and girls.<\/p>\n

“Join Us For Change means that we’re able to deliver more of the Join Us At The Table format and take it, for example, into some year 5\/6classrooms, into secondary schools \u2026 and also the community conversations that are where people are literally joining us at those tables,” said CMY Ballarat team leader Shiree Pilkinton.<\/p>\n

With the example of primary schools, children sit over multicultural snack boxes.<\/p>\n

They speak with representatives from project partners, which include organisations such as ElephantED and Women’s Health Grampians, about the program’s aims.<\/p>\n

“We all actually can learn when we just come together in a non-threatening environment,” Pilkinton said. “Sharing food and having people at the table who are experts in their fields.”<\/p>\n

Other events include community dinners, lunch sessions and chat gatherings.<\/p>\n

“They are facilitated conversations and we call it a PowerPoint free zone,” Pilkinton said.<\/p>\n

“It’s important to try and keep everyone on an equal level so that people feel comfortable in asking the questions that they may not have been able to ever ask before.”<\/p>\n

Lisha Murphy from Respect Victoria said the program was a reminder that solutions to preventing gendered violence must be led by communities.<\/p>\n

“This project is an invitation to come together to reimagine our relationships and our community, and to reflect on how lived experience and culture can shape us,” she said.<\/p>\n

For more information or to book a session, email ballaratinfo@cmy.net.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A program tackling issues around gender-based violence is being taken to new settings including primary schools. With Respect Victoria funding, the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) is expanding its Join Us At The Table model to bring more people from a range of cultural backgrounds together to share lived experiences and ask questions. Through facilitated […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":122792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-122790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCMY inviting change at the table - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CMY\u2019s Join Us For Change program expands to schools, fostering community conversations on gender equity and respectful relationships.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/cmy-inviting-change-at-the-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CMY inviting change at the table - 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