Her Way program results in women feeling safer

A Central Coast Council initiative implemented through the Safer Cities: Her Way pilot program has resulted in a marked improvement in women, girls and gender diverse people, feeling safer in the Gosford CBD.

The success of the program was recently recognised at the IAP2 Australasia Core Values Awards 2024 in Sydney, with the project winning the Community Development Award, and also receiving an Honourable Mention in the overall Project of the Year category.

In December 2023, Council received $1M from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) as part of the Safer Cities: Her Way collaborative partnership program.

The program aimed to develop and pilot initiatives co-designed with women, girls and gender diverse people to help improve perceptions of safety on our streets, in parklands and around public transport hubs.

Council selected Gosford transport interchange and the surrounding area as its focus for the Her Way project, as it is one of the main public transport entry points to the Central Coast, with more than 6,000 commuters daily.

Council’s Director Community and Recreation Services Melanie Smith said Council didn’t hesitate when invited by Transport for NSW to participate in the program.

“Women, girls and gender diverse people across the Central Coast actively use and depend on public transport, public spaces and the streets and paths that connect them, to access essential services and opportunities as part of their everyday lives,” Smith said.

“Yet, women, girls and gender diverse people face more gender-based harassment and safety issues when using public spaces than men do.

“From the outset, the Council team was determined to use this opportunity to maximise the impact of the pilot project and to create a legacy that would benefit our community both now and into the future.

“The evaluation results have showed that we have succeeded, and real changes have been made.”

Smith said Council really focused on engagement and collaboration with stakeholders, to ensure that the target audiences were empowered and had a real say in what changes were needed for them to feel safe.

“Between March 1 and June 30, 2023, we asked the community how we could improve perceptions of safety in Gosford,” Smith said.

“We utilised a survey, interactive map, walk-shops and co-design workshops.

“We had a phenomenal response from our community, with 3,500 community responses, 5,340 visits to the webpage, 30-plus in-person experiences and 136,000 pieces of data.”

Smith said results of the engagement program showed that 65 per cent of walk-shop participants felt unsafe or very unsafe in Gosford during the night and 35 per cent felt unsafe or very unsafe during the day. 

She said specifically, key themes affecting perceptions of safety in Gosford included lack of vision – lighting, lines of sight and passive surveillance; lack of beautification – well-maintained spaces, pride of place and public art; lack of activation – events, improved connections, economic stimulation and revitalisation.

“As a result of the engagement and co-design, there have been real tangible outcomes, which have played a part in the evaluation results – with women, girls and gender diverse people, now feeling safer,” Smith said.

The initiatives have included refreshing Burns Park with improved lines of sight, increased lighting, installation of public art and temporary activations, the Good Times Summer series of events, weekly markets, park and laneway activations, events and a shuttle bus loop.

Laneway transformation with public art, lighting, parklet installations and beautification and new signage, directional decal and walking route maps had also improved the sense of safety.

“Prior to delivery, seven in 10 participants reported a negative perception of safety across all locations.” Smith said.

“Once implemented, this reduced to only one in 10 participants, which is a significant improvement in the community’s sense of safety due to these initiatives,” Smith said.

“Council will now continue to keep the momentum going, with more planning and design of future locations, implementing a night-time economy strategy and further engagement using co-design principles which will also help inform the Kibble Park masterplan.”  

Council Administrator Rik Hart said an outcome Council wanted to achieve was to ensure women, girls and gender diverse people felt they were not constrained in how they moved about Gosford in their day-to-day lives.

“I would like to congratulate the many different Council staff from different areas who put their heart and soul into this project, genuinely wanting to work with our community to achieve really positive and long-lasting results,” Hart said.

He said their efforts and the success of the project had been acknowledged with the recognition at the IAP2 Australasia Core Value Awards.

“As Gosford CBD and the waterfront precinct expand, ultimately offering higher order jobs in health and education while broadening study opportunities, programs like Her Way can help set us up for the future.”

For more information on the program and evaluation report visit:  

https://www.yourvoiceourcoast.com/project-stage/safer-cities-her-way