Annual Report 2012/13
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Annual Report 2012/13 NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Inc. ABN 51 326 110 595 For a copy of the full Financial Report or additional copies of this report, please contact us. Office of the NSW WRM PO Box 3311 REDFERN NSW 2016 Email: [email protected] Telephone: 02 9698 9777 Graphic design Erin Snelgrove | [email protected] | 0410 421 901 Contents Letter from the Chief Executive Officer 2 Our Herstory 4 In Memorium 5 Our Principles 6 Working Party 8 Business Centre Report 10 Office Report 11 Managed Services Bathurst Women & Children’s Refuge 16 Bourke Women & Children’s Safe House 22 Delvena Women’s Refuge 26 Dolores Single Women’s Refuge 30 Elsie Women’s Refuge 34 Forbes Women’s Refuge 40 Kempsey Women’s Refuge 44 Wagga Wagga Women & Children’s Refuge 52 Wilcannia Women & Children’s Safe House 58 Wimlah Women & Children’s Refuge 62 Woy Woy Women & Children’s Service 70 Consolidated Independant Auditor’s Report 72 Acknowledgments 94 NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Annual Report 2012/13 NSW Women’s 1 Letter from the Chief Executive Officer This year has been filled with family violence. Thanks go to those opportunity and change. women who went before us - the change agents who built the NSW Most importantly, I believe we Women’s Refuge Movement - we have achieved clarity of purpose. stand on a proud foundation. I commenced the privileged role of CEO in September 2012 and Members also supported the full have led the team through a truly separation of the organisation’s transformative phase. peak and service management functions, the NSW WRM We can now proudly state our Business Centre becoming vision for “A world where women Domestic Violence NSW Service and children live free from violence, Management (DVNSWSM). have equal rights, opportunities and freedom to reach their A labour intensive undertaking potential”. We can be clear that our as a result of substantial growth work is all about the women and and corresponding governance children we serve. requirements, DVNSWSM has been established as a With overwhelming member separate Company (Limited endorsement, our Working by Guarantee) with an external Party have achieved significant board of professional feminist organisational restructure across women assuming full governance both the organisation’s peak and responsibility. business arms in 2013. It has required courage and tenacity and DVNSWSM is positioned as a I have worked alongside strong, major not-for-profit domestic and committed women. family violence service provider working within a strengths-based As a result, the NSW Women’s feminist framework. Refuge Movement has opened it’s membership to welcome our It is my optimistic expectation that sister services in the sector who DVNSWSM will go from strength to also provide specialist support to strength and work innovatively to women and children who have model best practice. Inextricably linked experienced domestic and family by an overarching vision, DVNSWSM violence. We are nothing without is now legally and physically separated each other and this inclusivity can from the peak - with new premises in only lead to better responses for the Sydney CBD. women and children. 2013 has been another busy year The restructure has also led to a supporting the sector with the name change for the organisation, NSW government policy agenda - officially becoming Domestic including the Going Home Staying Violence NSW (DVNSW) in July Home and Domestic and Family 2013. The change was undertaken Violence Reform platforms. to better reflect the expertise of We have met with or talked to the organisation and its members you one on one, travelled to in responding to domestic and NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Annual Report 2012/13 NSW Women’s 2 your regions, interagencies and service providers in the fields of From here, the trajectory is upwards networks. It has been personally sexual violence and domestic and and we believe we can make inroads educational to not only see the family violence. I have watched to beat the scourge of violence size and diversity across the the Alliance strengthen throughout against women and children. geographic landscape but also to the year and be acknowledged by We envisage working on an witness the progressive and client government as a “go to” think tank exciting strategic plan with a centred work already occurring. about these issues. primary prevention focus, leading The reforms are the most So, those are some of the big the formation of a housing significant to impact our members issues we have tackled this year. company DFV Housing and since the 1980s and this has engaging with a broadened We are where we are because seen the team and I engage with membership to work together in a team made things happen government, prosecuting the collaborative and innovative ways. - thank you to all of you for case for continued and increased your unswerving energy and funding to specialist services for commitment to the cause. women and children who have experienced domestic and family You have stayed focused on the violence. We are rigorous and big picture, overcoming difficult unapologetic in our approach. This circumstances and obstacles, to Tracy Howe advocacy will continue in 2013/14. stand strong in challenging times. Chief Executive Officer Change is never easy, but it has I have represented the state as been rewarding and affirming. NGO appointee sitting on the National Plan Implementation Panel Thanks and acknowledgment to and I attended the Commission for those who sit on our Board, including the Status of Women at the United outgoing chair Narelle Hand and Nations in New York in March. current chair Gayle Halloran. These national and international What the Office and the Business platforms gave me food for Centre have achieved is thought and clarity about the role outstanding and reflects outputs of our peak. Of course we must from a team 10 times their size! I have a local and state presence am so proud to lead them. They however, we can really be agents ARE amazing. of change if we feed into national Office and international agendas too. The potential for DVNSW to be a key Taryn Champion, Casey Hirst, player in the fight against violence Kate O’Brien, Bonnie Souter, Erin perpetrated on women and Snelgrove children is immense. Business Centre This year also saw the genesis Amy Simmons, Pat Louischeron, of a NSW Sexual Assault and Johanna Moon, Bonnie Souter Domestic and Family Violence Women’s Alliance, co-convened by our organisation in partnership with the NSW Rape Crisis Centre. Uniting peaks and state-wide NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Annual Report 2012/13 NSW Women’s 3 Our Herstory After the 1974 International Women’s Day celebration, a group of women established the first women’s refuge in Australia; now Elsie Women & Children’s Refuge, a member of the NSW Women’s Refuge Movement. Other refuges were soon established, funded solely by community donations. It took until January 1985 for refuges to receive secure funding. Throughout its history, the NSW Women’s Refuge Movement (WRM) has had significant input into improving the overall responses to women and children escaping domestic and family violence, and sexual abuse through representation on government and interagency working groups, steering committees and advisory councils to provide advice and influence policy and legislation. The WRM became a statewide representative body of refuges with a specific focus on providing consistent quality support for women and children escaping domestic violence. NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Annual Report 2012/13 NSW Women’s 4 In Memoriam Barbara “Barb” May Kilpatrick (1941 – 2013) Barb was a committed and passionate advocate for improved responses and services for women and children experiencing domestic violence; both within the NSW Women’s Refuge Movement (WRM) and more broadly in violence prevention. In the late 1970s, Barb volunteered as a child support worker at what is now Bringa Women and Children’s Refuge - at that stage one of only four refuges in NSW. By the early 1980s, Barb had gone from volunteer to manager and was sitting on the NSW Premier’s Department committee for new domestic violence legislation. Barb worked tirelessly to improve police responses to domestic violence - representing the NSW WRM as a lecturer at Goulburn Police Academy and as a consultant to then NSW police commissioner, John Avery, on issues relating to women, domestic violence and child protection in the mid 1980s. In 1997 Barb received the National Award for Achievement in Working with Police. Establishing the first domestic violence specific court assistance service during her time at Bringa, Barb engaged pro bono solicitors, and supported women at Manly Court with other Bringa staff. A fierce advocate for expansion of the scheme, it was precursor to the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme (WDVCAS) model established at Redfern Legal Centre in the mid 1990s (and subsequently funded by Legal Aid). A key driver in founding the Women’s Family Law Support Service, Barb continued to support its operations following her retirement. Awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2003, Barb was also recognised in 2007 at the NSW Violence Against Women Prevention Awards with the Tanya King Award for ‘extraordinary efforts of individuals working to prevent violence against women and or to support victims and survivors of violence’. Following her retirement in 2008, Barb became the first recipient of Honorary membership to the NSW WRM; awarded to past members of the Association in recognition and appreciation of service to the NSW WRM and advocacy for women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. A passionate champion of legal and social justice reforms, Barb remained a determined and influential advocate for improved responses and services for women and children following her retirement.