EXCLUSIVE: Victoria Police will launch an anti-violence campaign this Thursday, with Valentine's Day one of the worst days for domestic violence incidents nationally.
The campaign, 'Go4Zero', is partly in response to community concerns over recent high profile violent crimes, most prominently the murder of Jill Meagher in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.
It is designed to engage the public but not cause alarm and will run across TV, online and on social media. The Facebook element is already live. It was created and developed by Melbourne creative agency Accelerator.
The launch of the campaign is timed to coincide with Valentine's Day, which after Christmas Day has the dubious honour of having the second highest domestic violence incidents nationally.
Victorian personalities from politics, sport, entertainment and community support have leant their names to the campaign, including Police Chief commissioner Ken Lay, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, Tim Costello, Andrew Demetriou, environmentalist Rob Gell, and former sportspeople Ron Barassi, Matthew Richardson and Sue Stanley.
Victoria Police director of media and corporate communications Merita Tabain said: “Melbourne is one of the safest cities in the world. So the strategy was to acknowledge this, but push for something better.
“There is a pent up desire on behalf of Victorians to make their voice heard on the issue of violence. Go4Zero was designed to harness that energy and direct it toward positive action.”
Accelerator managing director Phil Huzzard said: “This is the kind of brief we relish. This brief gave us the opportunity to put something into the common vernacular that has the potential to be an enduring symbol of community solidarity against violence.”
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