ONE of this year’s hopefuls believes in upholding a standard and considering he works with victims of domestic violence, it’s a crucial one.

Canobolas Local Area Command domestic violence liaison officer Granton Smith was nominated for his work organising the inaugural White Ribbon Treadmill Relay in November

Senior Constable Smith, 36, took up the domestic violence role two years ago and adopted the motto ‘the standard you walk past is the standard you set’.

“I realised victims are so disempowered by what they experience, they are generally speaking in no fit state to be advocating for themselves and they need the rest of the community to step up,” he said.

“It’s about education people about the concerning behaviours so they don’t gave to wait to experience trauma before they see the writing on the wall, and it’s blokes challenging other blokes’ behaviour.

“If you’re in a social situation and someone says something really off-base or inappropriate, if you choose to ignore it, that person is going to think that’s OK and you’re just as bad as the perpetrator.”

He originally came up with the idea of running one hour for every Australian woman who died as a result of violence in 2015.

“But there were 80 victims in 2015 so it seemed to be a bit unattainable and it grew from there,” he said.

A 24-hour event was eventually settled upon, which raised more than $6000 for White Ribbon Australia and Housing Plus.

“There was one lady who was transfixed by the names [of the victims] rolling past on the big screen,” Senior Constable Smith said.

“You can talk about the numbers, that one in three women face physical or emotional violence, but when you take pause and realise it’s people, it takes on a whole new meaning.

“It’s lucky Orange hasn’t had a murder in recent times, but it can happen to anyone.”

He hoped to use any exposure from his nomination to promote this year’s event on November 25 and conduct school programs on healthy relationships.