We see advocacy as essential to amplify community voices and enhance effective and sustainable outcomes for communities in Melbourne’s west.
We work in collaboration with organisations in our sector, as well as beyond it.
Lessons from the 2022 Maribyrnong flood report
Since the Maribyrnong River flood on the 14th of October 2022, GenWest has provided a space for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds to connect and share their flood recovery stories in a safe and empowering environment.
In doing so, these women and GenWest identified a profound need for disaster recovery, management and long-term preparation to be localised, gendered and intersectional.
We developed the 'Our Community, Our Voice: Lessons from the 2022 Maribyrnong Flood' report based on interviews with women from migrant and refugee backgrounds who were impacted by the flooding of the Maribyrnong River in 2022.
The report makes recommendations for councils, state government and support services. The recommendations have been informed directly by the experiences of migrant women impacted by the flooding.
The report is available in English and Vietnamese.
Networks & partnerships
We see networks and partnerships as essential to bringing about effective and sustainable outcomes for communities in Melbourne’s west. We work in collaboration with organisations in our sector, as well as beyond it.
We are currently an active member of the below networks:
- Climate Just and Resilient Communities in Melbourne’s West Network
- Disaster Resilience Network
- Greater Melbourne Heat Alliance
- Act-West Network
- DisasterWISE Network
Presentations and conferences
We have amplified community voices at the following platforms:
- Panel member at the Community Tax Summit 2025, February 2025
- Panel member at the Climate Adaptation Fair, February 2025
- Panel member at the Gender & Heat Symposium, December 2024
- Keynote speaker at the Australasian Women in Emergencies (AWE) network, June 2024
- Panel member at the Living Future Expo by Maribyrnong Council for communities, June 2024
- Presented to the Maribyrnong Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee (MEMPC), May 2024
- Keynote speaker at the plenary of the Climate Emergency Conference 2024, April 2024
- Spoken at the Parliamentary Inquiry into insurers responses to 2022 flood claims by the Australian Parliament’s House of Representatives Standing Committee, April 2024
