The Health Promoting Communities: Being Active Eating Well project was a Go for your life initiative aimed at increasing physical activity and healthy eating. The Kingston Bayside Primary Care Partnership was funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Department of Planning and Community Development from July 2007 until June 2010 to implement the project. The project was one of six funded community demonstration projects across Victoria.

The project involved working with residents, schools, early childhood services, local agencies, community groups and businesses to support physical activity and healthy food choices with a focus on children aged 0-12 years.

The project was delivered in the communities of Clayton South in the City of Kingston and Hampton East, Highett and Sandringham in the City of Bayside (with a focus on public housing communities). These two local government areas are located in the Southern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne.

A range of programs and activities were delivered within the communities to support healthy choices around being active and eating well.

They included:

• Provision of several community based programs to share knowledge and build skills within the community
• A healthy message campaign to increase awareness of Being Active Eating Well messages
• Provision of training and resources for health professionals and staff from primary schools and early childhood services
• Support for primary schools and early childhood services to create healthy places for children
• Making positive role modelling a part of all programs

Snapshots of the major initiatives provide more detailed information about the different programs that made up the Being Active Eating Well project. The achievements of the program ranged from strengthened partnerships and a more skilled workforce through to improved eating and physical activity behaviours in the community. A number of reports and resources are available on our website or by contacting our office.

Through effective leadership and partnership, our Health Promotion Committee aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the communities within our catchment and advocate for integrated health promotion within our partner agencies.

Our current work will focus on:

• Developing an orientation kit and recruitment process includes a communication strategy to improve connections with the broader community and stakeholders
• Provide opportunities for the workforce of member agencies to increase their skill in the delivery of best practice integrated health promotion

The Equal, Safe and Strong school project was a pilot program that was implemented in three secondary schools located across the Bayside, Glen Eira and Kingston local council areas.

The project aimed to:

• increase knowledge of violence against women
• increase early intervention strategies in students
• build the capacity of teachers to appropriately respond to instances of family violence
• foster stronger integration between local services providers and schools

SMPCP'S Family Violence Working Group and facilitating organisation ShantiWorks worked together with each school to identify appropriate students to receive training to become peer-leaders. Trained students then presented a component of the training to their peers within the school setting and passed on their new understanding of gender equity and violence against women. School staff were also trained in preventing violence against women and supporting project implementation within the school.

Research has indicated that best practice principles for school based programs targeting family violence have the most success when parents are involved as part of a whole of school approach. The Equal, Safe and Strong project offered information and support to parents as part of the program

Phase I of the project involved the development of collaborative processes between ShantiWorks and the SMPCP Family Violence Working Group.

Phase II took place across Term 1 , 2016 and saw ShantiWorks and the project officer focus on the development of resources and training content for teachers and students and the delivery of teacher training sessions.

Phase III of the project included implementation of parent information sessions and the student program . The project was evaluated and completed in mid 2016.

The program was presented as a poster at the 2015 Stop Domestic Violence Conference in Canberra. 

Download Conference Poster...1.89 MB

The Victorian Government introduced the Respectful Relationships program into schools after recommendations were made by the Royal Commission into Family Violence. As a result of the introduction of this statewide initiative, no further implementation of Equal, Safe and Strong was conducted.

Our work is guided by the program logic of the Department of Health and Human Services. To best meet the needs of our community, we work together with our partners in a regular catchment planning process to identify strategic priorities. 

Most of our work is carried out under the 3 main program areas of, Prevention, Service Coordination & Integrated Care and Community.

SMPCP Executive Officer, Terry Lazzarotto welcomed the release of the Summary and Recommendations of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.

The current work of the PCP is reflected in the report findings and the Partnership is well positioned to support the government’s efforts to address this important community issue. Among the 227 recommendations within the report, particular note was made of the need for more work to be done in the areas of prevention and training and workforce development for general health workers.

A sense of belonging is crucial to good mental health. All our initiatives aim to be as inclusive as possible of all members of the community.

We are currently working together with a range of partners to improve health literacy knowledge and practice within the SMPCP catchment.

Past initiatives have included:

• Westall Bookswap and Storytime project.
• Flouro Friday mental health awareness

Questions? Like to get involved?

We would love to hear your feedback, ideas and questions please contact Health Promotion Partnership Lead Tracey Collins on 8587 0338 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.