Safe Staff, Safe Venues initiative recognized for industry impact

On Monday night, Safe Staff, Safe Venues was named the Cultural Change Champion at the 46th Age Good Food Guide awards for its ground-up approach to creating safe hospitality workplaces by giving workers the knowledge, confidence and collective support to combat systemic issues.

“It’s called Safe Staff, Safe Venues because we know when staff are safe at a venue, their guests and the patrons that attend that venue will be safer as well, and that contributes to our industry and … our world-class culture being stronger,” said Victorian Trades Hall Council Women’s Team lead Carolyn Dunbar on Monday when accepting the award.

This is the third year the Good Food Guide recognised a Cultural Change Champion – a person, initiative or businesses trying to challenge the status quo in all areas of the industry, from workplace rights to employment opportunities.

It came off the back of in-depth investigations by Good Food, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald that exposed incidents of sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the Australian hospitality industry.

Safe Staff, Safe Venues was launched in June 2025 by the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) to challenge unsafe and unfair workplace cultures. It works across hospitality, arts and events, with a particular focus on workers at greater risk of exploitation, including women, gender-diverse people, international students and those on temporary visas.

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“Getting the recognition [from The Good Food Guide] shows that we are here to make long-term, systemic change, and we feel that through this program, we have the opportunity to do that,” Dunbar said in an interview on Wednesday.

The initiative also aligns with organisations like the Couch International Student Centre and the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC) to educate people on wage theft and workplace exploitation, and create a community of people so they don’t feel alone. “That can’t be overstated,” chief executive of MWC Matt Kunkel says. “They get together and share their stories and find common solutions.”

Safe Staff, Safe Venues visits venues, speaks directly with workers and runs workshops to help participants identify unacceptable behaviour, understand their options and connect with others facing similar challenges.

“Prevention is an ecosystem,” inaugural Cultural Change Champion winner Jamie Bucirde said when presenting the award on Monday. “It requires education, yes, but it also requires strong leadership, accountability, safer reporting systems, good policy, working protections, community and institutions that are willing to change the conditions that allow harmful behaviour to continue.”

Bucirde won the award for starting a nationwide conversation with her Not So Hospitable Instagram account, which encouraged people to share experiences of assault and harassment in bars, restaurants and clubs across Adelaide. She turned her findings into an academic report with The University of Melbourne, which contributed to South Australia announcing plans to make bystander intervention education part of compulsory Responsible Service of Alcohol training.

VTHC has campaigned for legislative change, including a three-year, worker-led push to end the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in workplace sexual harassment matters. Legislation banning their misuse came into effect in Victoria on July 1, 2026, a significant step towards greater transparency and accountability.

It also advocated for the inclusion of a mandatory sexual harassment prevention and response module to be required under the Responsible Service of Alcohol training accreditation, which was launched in November 2025.

“When we can change legislation or regulations, that can make a really big impact across the whole system, as opposed to at individual workplaces or with individual folks,” Dunbar says.

“We’re really only just getting started,” she adds.

The 46th Age Good Food Guide reviews are available via the Good Food app, which is free for premium subscribers of The Age and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food apphere. Click here for more Good Food Guide stories.

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