This evaluation report documents the impact and learnings from Project Respect, an innovative commemorative justice initiative led by the City of Casey in partnership with WHISE and Geographic Names Victoria.
Project Respect centred young people as change-makers, engaging students from three secondary schools in the City of Casey to critically examine whose stories are recognised in public spaces, and whose have been historically overlooked. Through research, storytelling and advocacy, students highlighted the contributions of local women whose lives and leadership have gone largely unrecognised, directly responding to persistent gender inequality in commemorative place naming.
The report reflects on the Youth Symposium held in July 2025, the Grand Finale awards night at Bunjil Place, and the outcomes achieved through this community-led approach. It also explores key insights, challenges and opportunities — including the tension between colonial place-naming systems and First Nations histories — and offers recommendations for how the Project Respect model could be replicated or scaled across Victoria.
Together, these findings demonstrate the power of commemorative justice as a prevention-focused, strengths-based approach to advancing gender equality and amplifying marginalised histories.