The streets of Mackay will once again be painted purple in May 2026 as part of the Mackay Region Rotary Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Program. The Community March and Rally is one of several events being held in a bid to put a stop to domestic and family violence.
Last year more than 1000 people marched through the centre of Mackay in a powerful show of unity.
President of the Rotary Club of Mackay Michael Buckeridge has been a part of Rotary for more than 20 years and said one of the many great things about Rotary is that if they come across something they’re annoyed about, they can rally enough support to do something about it.
“The thing that was frustrating us was the rate of domestic violence in our community. So we sat down and said, ‘okay let’s do something about it’. At Rotary we have so many awesome connections so we were able to put together a program that we could implement in the community.
“We have three goals. We want to try and inspire respect and accountability in the younger generations particularly younger men. There are cases of men being the victim, but the percentages are highly skewed towards women suffering at the hands of domestic violence.
“We want to encourage reporting of domestic and family violence. If police know where it’s happening, they can direct their resources at it. And thirdly we want to mobilise the entire Mackay community to do all of that,” said Michael.
The 2026 program will launch on 24 March next year. The flagship event will bring together schools, industry partners, government and community leaders with key speakers Vanessa Fowler OAM (the sister of Allison Baden-Clay) and past Police Superintendent Bob Atkinson AO, APM.
600 purple T-shirts will be distributed across 12 high schools and 500 across the wider community. Everyone will be encouraged to wear the shirts and ‘Get Their Purple On’ every Friday in May for Purple Fridays to create a strong, visible statement across the region.
“Last year we only had the conversations happening with years 11 and 12, but this year we’re including the younger kids and expanding the conversation to years 7 and 8. It’s one of the things the experts told us. Their message to those younger groups is focused on being a respectful human being – disrespect doesn’t always lead to violence but violence always starts with disrespect,” Michael explained.
The eSafety Commission will run a free public workshop for parents and the program will culminate in the Community March and Rally on 29 May 2026.
“We believe the message will get out to the community – our belief is if the students are hearing the message at school, their parents will hear it from them, and they’ll see it in the community so it’s a layered approach.”
| You can find all the information on the Mackay Region Rotary Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Program at: www.rotarymackay.org.au |
