Kinetic’s Moving Communities Fund to help Victorians at risk find a path to safety

Kinetic and Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre have jointly unveiled two buses that will take to the streets across Melbourne, raising awareness of vital domestic and family violence support services.

Safe Steps is Victoria’s only 24/7 crisis response service for anyone experiencing family or domestic violence (FDV) and handles around 130,000 contacts each year through its phone, live chat and email channels, providing immediate and confidential assistance to individuals at serious risk.

The free ads on Kinetic’s Melbourne bus network will help ensure more victim-survivors and community members know that Safe Steps is available, day and night, to provide critical support.

In addition, Safe Steps aims to broaden community knowledge of FDV support services, supporting communities with the knowledge and resources to share with those in their circle whom they suspect might be experiencing FDV.

The partnership comes as Victoria faces rising rates of family and domestic violence, with more than 106,000 family incidents recorded by Victoria Police last year – the highest in years.

Kinetic General Manager (Melbourne) Tom Kinsey said the campaign is about more than advertising – it is about using public transport infrastructure to strengthen safety and connection in the community.

“By displaying Safe Steps’ message across our Melbourne network, we hope we can help even one person reach out for life-saving support,” he said.

“Transport plays a quiet but powerful role in helping people find safety, and as a major bus operator in Melbourne, we feel we have a responsibility to use our network to enable that.”

Safe Steps also recently worked with Kinetic to deliver FDV awareness programs as part of Kinetic’s domestic violence awareness activation, designed to help team members better understand the signs of family and domestic violence and how to respond with empathy and awareness if someone on their network needs support.

Safe Steps’ Group Director of Business Growth Suzanne Paynter said the advertising will extend the organisation’s reach and ensure more people know that help is available.

“We’re incredibly grateful for Kinetic’s support to help us reach more people across Victoria,” said Ms Paynter.

“Demand for our services is growing, but it’s the people who don’t call us we worry about the most.

“It’s vital that people experiencing family and domestic violence in crisis know who to contact, and that Safe Steps is here 24/7, every day of the year, to provide immediate, life-saving support. This initiative will ensure more people know they are not alone."

Safe Steps is a recipient of Kinetic’s Moving Communities Fund, which provides grants to community-focused organisations, with each grant supporting work that creates safer, more inclusive and better-connected communities. 

Learn more about Safe Steps at safesteps.org.au.