The first of its kind Violence Prevention Innovation Lab will shortly launch in Australia to identify and strengthen transformative gender-based violence prevention approaches.
Led by Our Watch, the national organisation to prevent violence against women, the Lab will accelerate evidence-based community projects through collaboration and an Innovation Ideas Challenge Fund.
Funded through a $7.5 million, 3-year philanthropic partnership with Minderoo Foundation, the Lab will enable partners to better test, evaluate, scale and embed promising primary prevention thinking into community-led action.
The Lab is an investment in national efforts to prevent violence against women by addressing the underlying drivers and shifting the social norms, structures and practices that enable this violence.
Speaking of the Lab’s launch, Our Watch Chief Executive Patty Kinnersly said: “Community-led Innovation is the foundation on which change is built. If we want to change the cultures that lead to the crisis of gender-based violence in Australia, we need to invest in potential.
“Capacity to explore innovative, community-led ideas is critical to tackling the root causes of violence against women. The Lab will enable exciting pilots and programs in emerging and under-funded settings to realise their potential.
“By supporting initiatives that show potential for impact and scalability, we are contributing to the broader systems change needed to prevent violence against women and children from occurring in the first place.”
Jacqueline Joudo Larsen, Executive Director Gender Equality, Minderoo Foundation, said: “We are proud to stand alongside Our Watch as they pursue the generational change needed to see violence against women and children ended.
“Gender-based violence is a complex problem that requires a whole-of-system approach to reform. At Minderoo, we believe a fair future is possible when inequality is challenged and meaningful impact prioritised.
“We all have a role to play in dismantling the barriers that stop progress, and it is our privilege to be strengthening the ecosystem of exceptional organisations working to end violence against women and girls by supporting Our Watch."
“We aim to share knowledge and collaborate on opportunities for innovation between local, regional and national organisations, and this collaboration with Minderoo will create fresh opportunities to create the meaningful change needed for all women to not only feel safe, but to thrive.”
The first cohort of Lab partners will commence in 2026, with a focus on pilots and programs that are locally led and self-determined in nature. An online information session for interested organisations will take place in October.
For more information visit our Work with us page or contact innovation.projects@ourwatch.org.au.
For Our Watch please contact media@ourwatch.org.au or call 0448 844 930.
For Minderoo Foundation please contact media@minderoo.org.
If you cover this story, or any story regarding violence against women and children, please include the following tagline:
1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800RESPECT.org.au, or text 0458 737 732. Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491.
Access guides for reporting about violence against women and their children.
Our Watch is Australia’s leader in the primary prevention of violence against women. The organisation was created to drive nation-wide change in the practices, norms, and structures that lead to violence against women and children. Read more about Our Watch here.
Minderoo Foundation is a proudly Australian philanthropy, working to forge a fair future by courageously challenging inequalities and campaigning for meaningful change.