Focus on community safety

ROBINVALE is taking a community approach to safety, with a number of initiatives to address the issue.

Children, seniors and different groups within the community will be targeted in the safety push.

About 150 students from the local primary schools have registered for SAFE — a CFA co-ordinated program — while a Community Safety Expo in the main street of Robinvale will reach other groups in the community.

Robinvale Community Safety Group has also had a hand in the organisation of the events, and will work in conjunction with the CFA.

The group has a number of local representatives from services including Robinvale District Hospital, Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-op, Swan Hill Rural City Council, Robinvale P-12 College and Robinvale Indigenous Elders.

“There are a whole group of agencies who are coming together and we can now have a more comprehensive approach to it,” CFA community education co-ordinator for districts 18 and 20 Kevin Sleep said.

With the expo being held in the main street, it will be easily accessible. Increasing accessibility to the town’s multicultural population is the translation of safety brochures into a number of different languages including Greek, Tongan, Turkish, Italian and Vietnamese.

“We already have that population circulating in the main street, so it is a way to tap into that,” Mr Sleep said.

“The CFA has interpreted a number of our brochures — I think up to 34 to 35 different languages.”

On May 21, the CFA co-ordinated program SAFE, which is aimed at students, will visit the small community.

CFA, SES, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and Mallee Domestic Violence Unit will present sessions on key safety messages.

The Community Safety Expo is expected to be held in the coming months.

​For the full story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (May 5).