Please note this story includes information about Domestic and Family Violence which may cause distress. If you need immediate support, reach out to 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), a 24-hour national sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line. 

Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month is held each May to raise awareness around the social and personal impacts of domestic and family violence and the support available to those affected.  

Intimate partner violence (IPV) homicide is highly gendered. The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report found that in the majority of cases, domestic violence is used by the man against his female partner. There is a heightened vulnerability for women who separate or intend to separate from their partners, and support options for women to escape these situations is critical.  

Since 1994, The Benevolent Society has been running the Centre for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health in Campbelltown, NSW. The centre provides integrated support services to women, children and families. This includes crisis intervention, counselling, family therapy, psychoeducation, case management, therapeutic childcare and community education services aimed at educating and empowering women. 

Roweena Moffatt, Manager for the Centre for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health, said: “Accessible, safe spaces where women can go during times of crisis and recovery, where they feel safe, acknowledged and validated is crucial.” 

Earlier in March at the 2024 Safe & Together™ Model Asia Pacific Conference in Melbourne, Roweena accepted the Excellence in Systems Change Award. It recognises her distinguished career of change and advocacy work around domestic violence, family violence and supporting the needs of women. 

The Excellence in Systems Change Award 

The Excellence in Systems Change Award recognises professionals trained in the Safe & Together Model, and who actively apply its concepts and tools to organisational and systems change.  

The model is hinged around keeping children safe and together with the non-offending parent (usually the mother), identifying protective efforts made by the mother and holding perpetrators (fathers) accountable for their choices to parent in the context of violence and control. The additional element is practice and documentation that captures these components of the model, and influences systems including magistrates and the justice system.  

The applications of this model are key to combating gender-based violence and ensuring the non-offending parent (usually the mother), is supported for this.  

 

Felicia Dingle, Director of Operations - Child Youth and Family at The Benevolent Society, said “With over 20 years of experience in the Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) and Child Protection sector, including the past six as a central part of the Centre for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health, Roweena has led crucial contributions to support for women and children impacted by domestic and gender-based violence.” 

Roweena was nominated for the award by her peers at The Benevolent Society. 

Nurturing empathetic, thoughtful practitioners

Roweena is shaping the next generation of practitioners to deliver this support for women and children, through both her mentoring of staff in the Safe & Together Institute’s CORE training principles and active role implementing new empathetic models to deliver these services.  

Since commencing her time at the Centre for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health, Roweena now leads a team of counsellors, case workers, child development specialists and child and family practitioners to deliver change-based services aligned with the Safe & Together principles. 

“As part of this ongoing work, Roweena has led the implementation of a new integrated service delivery model to deliver a ‘one stop shop’ for women and their children accessing support when having experienced domestic violence. These support options include counselling, case management, therapeutic groups and therapeutic childcare,” added Felicia.  

Pioneering innovative frameworks of support

Staff at the Centre are trained with the principles of the Safe & Together Model. They approach assessing the situations of victims with a clear understanding of the perpetrator pattern-based approach, and to identify the protective factors that survivors employ to protect their children and minimise harm caused by the perpetrator's choices. 

“Central to this is the safe and together approach and the integrated service model of the centre. These two practices provide a positive experience for women presenting to the centre, often for the first time. The design of this service integration and the pattern-based response approach prevents women from needing to retell their stories and relive the pervasive and traumatic abuse and violence to access support,” Roweena says. 

Having identified a common barrier for many women accessing these services was having children in their care, Roweena has also led the charge on implementing ‘therapeutic childcare’ as part of this integrated model. This child-lead safe play space, run by a trauma responsive educator, nurtures children whilst their mothers and/or siblings access domestic or family violence support services. 

Being a changemaker 

With the practices from the Centre for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health’s integrated service delivery model being rolled out across The Benevolent Society’s child, youth and family services, aged care and disability services, this work is also contributing to new ways of working in the wider community services space.  

“More work is needed to continue supporting victims of domestic and family violence. Roweena’s contributions to date have been immense, and form such a crucial part of how The Benevolent Society is doing this. Developing and implementing new models for delivering this support will be crucial to ensuring the safety of victims of domestic and family violence,” said Felicia.  

To find out more about The Benevolent Society’s Domestic and Family Violence Support Programs, call our Support Centre on 1800 236 762. 

Anyone experiencing a crisis can also call: Lifeline 13 11 14 | Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 | Beyond Blue 1300 224 636. Dial 000 if you are in immediate danger.