Orana House is actively seeking funding support for our dedicated Court Support service for up to two days per week. From our base at The SWitCH Centre in Noranda, o...
Orana House
Family Domestic Violence Court Support Service
GOAL
$50,000
australia > WA > Metro and regional
01/01/2025 > 31/12/2025
FIELD OF INTEREST
- Social inclusion & justice (human rights)
- Individual/family services & support
TARGET POPULATION
- Women and girls
- People experiencing or at risk of homelessness
PROJECT SUMMARY
Orana House is actively seeking funding support for our dedicated Court Support service for up to two days per week. From our base at The SWitCH Centre in Noranda, our specialist Outreach Workers deliver complete wraparound services, including safety planning, risk assessments, advocacy and case management.
They also frequently assist clients through the stressful process of applying for Family Violence Restraining Orders. Not only do they work together with clients to navigate the bureaucratic process, they liaise with publicly-appointed lawyers to optimise the minimal time they are allocated and help simplify complex terminology. Additionally, they accompany the clients, in person, to the Family and/or Magistrates’ Courts and provide essential support as their cases are heard.
We did this 126 times last financial year, with each case taking an average of eight hours each. It is one of the biggest expenses to our small, not-for-profit organisation, but the value of this care can’t be overstated. Going through Court is one of the most frightening and discouraging parts of the process, and also one of the most necessary, to ensure safety for the women and children we care for.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
Through this initiative, we are able to drastically reduce the very real risks (of fatality and abuse) by violent perpetrators on women and their children. Our specialist frontline staff have witnessed the many ways that perpetrators manipulate the court system (especially Family Court) to harass and coercively control their victims.
We will increase the physical and psychological safety for women and children. Having our staff prepare them for legal appointments and attend Court with them (where they have to face their perpetrator) helps reduce stress and anxiety, building understanding and confidence as they articulate their concerns. This holistic approach, supported by our dedicated Child Advocate, leads to safer outcomes for all.
We have partnered with the Curtin School of Allied Health to conduct a rigorous assessment and measurement of the SWitCH Centre's social impact. We will publish the findings of the report. Additionally, using the standardised SHIPS platform (used by domestic violence services across the country), we are able to collect demographic data about those who access our many SWitCH services and these results (de-identified for confidentiality) are published annually in our Impact Report.
Perhaps most importantly, we also conduct individual assessments with the clients themselves, for them to evaluate how they perceive their own benefit, growth and capacity, as a result of our services.
Our long-term vision is to demonstrate the efficacy of our service to secure funding for more frontline workers for the Centre in future.
Orana House
Orana House’s mission is to empower everyone to make informed decisions to end family and domestic violence (FDV) in the community. We’re a Boorloo (Perth) based, non-profit organisation with thirty-five years’ experience providing emergency crisis accommodation in our refuge and transitional homes.
Our beneficiaries are women and their children who are, who have, or who are at risk of experiencing FDV. While our 24/7 refuge is based in Bayswater, we receive referrals from far and wide, across the city and State. We delivered over ten-thousand bed nights last year, yet the demand far outweighs supply. Tragically, like refuges all around the country, we are at capacity every single night, having to turn away more families than we can shelter.
In response, we opened The SWitCH Centre: Supporting Women in the Community Holistically in 2021. Located in Noranda, it’s a one-stop hub for people to access information about FDV and vital support services. Since opening, we've identified a growing and critical need for our dedicated Court Support service. In order to accompany our clients through the often-traumatic process of lodging Family Violence Restraining Orders and going through the Magistrate's and Family Courts, this means our frontline staff are spending up to eight hours per client to help them access and navigate the justice system safely.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
TOTAL BUDGET: $50,000
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Funding gap (unconfirmed) | $50,000 |
EXPENSES
| Expense item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Wages for 2 days Court Support per week at SCHADS level 4 (7.5 hours per day for one year: $25,000) including insurance, super, IT and on-costs, etc. | $48,000 |
| Transport (fuel, parking, subsidies) | $2,000 |
Support Family Domestic Violence Court Support Service
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