16 Days of Activism 2025

Respect Starts at the Table event - 10.00am - 12.30pm, Wednesday 26 November

Mount Alexander Shire Council is proud to deliver an event that promotes respect and resilience in response to gender-based violence in our community. This is a safe and inclusive event focusing on positive connections as a way of raising awareness of family violence.

Come along to a community gathering at Campbells Creek Community Centre, bring some baked goods to share, bring your favourite recipe and share what respect means to you. Join a crochet or knitting circle, cook along with the Chewton CWA, contribute to a community banner for the walk against violence on 10 December. Conversations about respect and your recipes will be captured and shared in a community cookbook. Be part of an inspiring community project where everyone's voices and contributions are valued, and respect, resilience and connection are celebrated.

Respect is the vital ingredient that nourishes safe, thriving communities. This event sets the table for conversations, creativity, and connection—where recipes, stories, and shared skills remind us that resilience is something we can cook up together.

A table set with respect has room for everyone.

Register your free ticket here - Respect starts at the table

Community cookbook – Respect starts at the table

Be part of a meaningful community project that celebrates connection, culture, and respect.

Share your favourite recipe – whether it’s a cherished family dish, a go-to comfort meal, or something that brings people together around your table.

Tell us what respect means to you – your words will help shape a powerful message about how respect is lived and shared in our community.

This is your chance to contribute to a special community cookbook that highlights the diverse voices, flavours, and values of Mount Alexander. Individuals, families, local businesses, and community organisations are all welcome to take part.

Together, let’s create a cookbook that reminds us that respect starts with how we treat one another, and often, that begins around the table.

To enter your recipe and message of respect, visit Shape Mount Alexander during the 16 Days of Activism.

Let’s cook up change – one recipe at a time.

Contribute to a community banner - Together we say yes to respect!

Let's create a powerful message by making a community banner we can use to raise awareness about the importance of respect in preventing gender-based violence. Come along to a session and contribute to the banner for 16 Days of Activism. Original banner artwork is produced by local artist, Judy Laycock.

• 11 November - Castlemaine Community Lunch, Town Hall
• 18 November - Castlemaine Community Lunch, Town Hall
• 26 November - Respect starts at the table event, Campbells Creek Community Centre

Community Walk Against Violence - 9.30am, Wednesday 10 December

Mount Alexander Shire Council is hosting a Community Walk Against Violence – We say yes to respect - to raise awareness, foster solidarity, and promote a safer, more respectful community for all.

Join us to amplify the message that violence has no place in our community—and that together, we can create change. It all starts with respect.

Hear from Council’s Director of Healthy Communities and Centre for Non-Violence, followed by a group walk around the botanical gardens. Be part of a community photo to record our commitment to end violence.

People of all genders welcome, bring your friends, family, workmates. Bring your banners or walk with our community banner. We encourage you to wear orange, the theme colour for this campaign. Let's stand together against gender-based violence in our community.

Meet at the rotunda by the lake at 9.30am.