Support and crisis accommodation in Wilcannia

Wilcannia Safe House (WSH)

Wilcannia Safe House (WSH) provides overnight, short and medium term accommodation for women with or without children who are escaping or experiencing Domestic and Family Violence. The accommodation available at the WSH are independent units, however, with agreement from all individuals residing there and those seeking accommodation these units can be shared with separately presenting groups or individuals.

The service also provides outreach support for people in the community who are escaping or experiencing Domestic and Family Violence, are homeless, or at risk of homelessness.

The Wilcannia Safe House predominantly supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The service prioritises work with;

Young People between 16 and 25
Women over 25
Families with children including those escaping Domestic and Family Violence.

The WSH also serves as a community hub, offering a safe and supportive location where women and children can meet; a space where local and visiting services can hold information sessions, events and one-on-one meetings.

A closer look at the WSH

We provide a safe space where women can come to have time out to think and make decisions for themselves and their families’ future. We attempt to provide a space that is unencumbered by some of the pressures of being at home if that is what the women need.

Women can access this space either during the day if they just want to take some time, catch up with a listening ear or they can access the ‘Safe House’ accommodation overnight for some time out from their family situation. We not only support people who come directly to the Safe House, we also visit people in their home or other places that they feel comfortable if this supports them to be able to access our service.

We work to support people within the Wilcannia community to achieve positive sustainable change in their lives as determined by them. We do this primarily through holistic case management practice where we work with individuals to identify what it means for them to have wellbeing and assist them to establish goals and strategies to achieve this, whilst supporting them to overcome the barriers or life challenges that may be impeding them. Together we plan how to turn their stated life goals into a reality. The support we provide differs with every individual because every person is different and has goals specific to them and what they want for their future.

At the WSH we also offer a drop in service at our community hub for women who may be just wanting to find out information or to use the resources within the centre such as computers or access a private room to contact Housing or Centrelink for example.