Koolkuna Services

The Eastern Region Domestic Violence Services Network (ERDVSN), known as Koolkuna, provides a range of services to support individuals and families affected by domestic and family violence. These include:

· Koolkuna Women’s Refuge

· Supported Housing and Outreach Programme

· Koolkuna Domestic Violence Advocacy Service (DVAS)

The Koolkuna team have also developed extensive networks with other community agencies and government departments, particularly in the locality of the East Metro region, to ensure that the individual needs of the women and children are met quickly.

As a part of this initiative Koolkuna (as ERDVSN) has taken on the contractual responsibility for the Regional Coordinated Response to Domestic and Family Violence in the Midland Magistrates Court Region. This is known as the Domestic Violence Agencies Network – East Metro, and has further developed and strengthened relationships between local agencies working to improve the safety of women and children and in holding perpetrators accountable.

Koolkuna Services

Koolkuna Women’s Refuge provides safe, supported, short-term accommodation to women and children escaping domestic or family violence or other life crises resulting in homelessness.

Koolkuna Women’s Refuge operates from purpose-built premises and has the capacity to accommodate four families at any one time with a maximum of 24 persons. The premises were specifically designed with the needs of larger families, accompanying older male children and those with disabilities in mind. As such, Koolkuna is one of the few refuges in the metropolitan region that can accommodate women with up to 7 children, women and children with disabilities and older male children up to the age of 18 years.

Koolkuna Women’s Refuge provides a range of support services other than accommodation, aimed at meeting the needs of women and children affected by domestic or family violence. This includes providing Case Management, assessment of needs, support and safety planning, information, referral, advocacy, basic counselling, practical assistance in the form of emergency relief for food and fares, transport to and support during appointments, court support, assistance with securing and moving to longer-term accommodation, outreach and aftercare. The staff offer activities and support to the children and assistance to women in understanding and managing their children’s behaviour and other parenting issues. A counsellor from the Children’s Counselling Service attends the refuge twice a week to provide counselling to women and children and the attachment through play, Family Fun Programme continues. Regular leisure activities also take place for the women and the children, both at the refuge and outside via our Active Participation Programme and the City of Swan Access All Areas Programme.

Koolkuna Women’s Refuge

Koolkuna also operates a Supported Housing and Outreach Programme and has five Medium-Term or transitional houses in the locality. These are for women and children who had previously stayed in a refuge and were identified as needing additional support when they moved on. Foundation Housing continue to be responsible for the management of the properties, tenancy agreements, maintenance and rent collection and Koolkuna is responsible for providing regular support to the families to enable them to move onto more independent accommodation. The part-time Outreach Support Worker continues to have responsibility for case managing and supporting the families in these houses.

Koolkuna Supported Housing and Outreach Programme

The Koolkuna Domestic Violence Advocacy Service specifically focuses on supporting women in the community experiencing family and domestic violence. This includes crisis counselling and safety planning, support through court process, advocacy, referral, information provision and educating the local community about the issues of domestic violence and where they can access services.

The Domestic Violence Advocacy Service (DVAS) has been operating from its own office at Lotteries House in Midland since April 2001 and in April 2007 began providing services from the Midland Police Station 2 days per week with an intention to increase this time and expand the service to Ellenbrook and other East Metro |Police stations in the near future. This service is easily accessible by public transport and is within easy walking distance of a number of important services including the Police Station, the Court, Women’s Health Care Place, Relationships Australia, the Department for Child Protection, Legal Aid, Centrelink and Department of Housing and Works. This maximizes client ability to access the service.

DVAS is firmly seen as a service operating in its own right although there are close links with Koolkuna Women’s Refuge and the Domestic Violence Agencies Network. The Manager of the Organisation meets regularly with the staff for supervision, and the Koolkuna/ERDVSN administrator deals with all the administration, other than client files and statistics.

The DVAS’s primary purpose is to provide information, support, advocacy, referral and education to individuals and communities to enable them to understand the effects of domestic and family violence and make informed choices. It does this in the following ways:

· Assisting individuals to assess their own circumstances and relationships and make decisions and plans for their future.

· Providing information to assist individuals and groups to understand Violence and Abuse, Safety Planning and Crisis Intervention

· Court Support Service to the Midland Court to assist clients applying for Violence Restraining Orders and at Family Court regarding Children’s issues

· Referrals and Support to Legal Aid and Legal Services

· Information, Support, Advocacy and Referral to appropriate Government and Community Services

· Community Education

Email: refuge@koolkuna.org.au

Koolkuna Domestic Violence Advocacy Service (DVAS)

The Domestic Violence Agencies Network is the Regional Coordination Response to Family and Domestic Violence (RCRFDV) in the East Metropolitan area. The RCRFDV is a WA State Government initiative funded through the Department of Communities and overseen by the Family and Domestic Violence Unit, Koolkuna employs the Coordinator and manages this contract.

DVAN consists of local government and non-government agencies that are key in responses to FDV, the agencies involved are committed to working together to improve the safety of people affected by FDV, and holding perpetrators accountable. Identification of and action to address barriers, gaps and systemic issues, along with case management of “High Risk” FDV cases are part of the DVAN’s function.

For more information about this initiative please visit the DVAN website at: www.dvan.org.au

Domestic Violence Agencies Network (DVAN) - East Metro

Email: dvan@dvan.org.au

Email: outreach@koolkuna.org.au

Email: dvas@koolkuna.org.au