Southern Womens Group

Southern Women’s Group actively focuses energy on creating opportunities for disadvantaged women of all ages and backgrounds and campaigning for equality and the end of gender-based violence.

Southern Women’s Group was founded in 1984 by a group of women concerned with the lack of services available for women in the Bega region. In 1985, SWG first received a grant from the, then, NSW Department of Youth and Community Services to assist in the running of a Women’s Resource Centre.

One area of identified need was support for women who were experiencing domestic violence and were seeking legal assistance through court ordered Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders. The Women’s Resource Centre organised a roster of seconded workers from local community services (Bega Women’s Refuge, Family Support Service & Southern Women’s Housing) to support women at Bega Court. This initiative was later recognised and in 1999 Southern Women’s Group first received funding support from Legal Aid NSW to provide the Far South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (SCWDVCAS). This service expanded over time to include courts in the Eurobodalla & Bega Valley Shire, and later the Shoalhaven area, so the service is now active from Nowra to the Victorian border.

Over time SWG has evolved to meet the changing needs of the women we support while maintaining its commitment to empower women by providing information, support, referral, education, and advocacy.

Today, Southern Women’s Group manages the Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) and the South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (SCWDVCAS).

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