Pathi Raj
25 Oct 2022
This article was written by Pathi Raj and published by the Sunraysia Daily.
A MILDURA resident hopes his rural perspective will effect positive change in his home town and regional Victoria after he was appointed to an advisory council to consult the Victorian government on reforms to family violence responses.
Conor, 19, was recently selected as a member of a 15-person Victim Survivors' Advisory Council and said his appointment was a step in the right direction for broadening the diversity of perspective to the council, now in its third two-year term.
"Having a young person's rural perspective on domestic and family violence is completely different to a Melbourne young person's perspective," Conor said.
He said while structural change could take years, he did not take his opportunity lightly to bring local issues to council.
"We know that in Mildura, 451 reports are made every month to police alone about domestic and family violence. Our rates of DV are substantially higher than any other LGA in Victoria.
"I don't see it as tokenistic. I see it as meaningful. Government wants to listen to people with lived experience. And they want to listen to young people with lived experience."
Conor was previously a member of the Victorian Youth Parliament and played a role in introducing a Bill to make "coercive control" a crime equal to physical assault charges in domestic violence situations. He was also named Victorian Young Achiever of the Year in 2022.
Conor said despite being the youngest member on the council, he understood that this opportunity was more than about having a voice.
"It's highlighting that victim/survivors are more than their story," Conor said.
"It's highlighting) that we have meaningful ideas, that we're not silly and that each victim or survivors' experience is different and unique.
"There's definitely power in numbers and being part of the council where every member has some form of lived experience of domestic and family violence is so meaningful, and people will listen"
Conor, who recently participated in his first meeting and will meet with the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence next week, said he intended to advocate for a few initiatives during his term with the council.
"I will be looking at advocating for respectful relationships in schools," he said.
Alongside educating young people about healthy relationships, he also aimed to push for more access to legal services in rural areas and for standalone coercive control laws.