Ruah Centre for Women & Children

Welcome to the Ruah Centre for Women & Children

The Ruah Centre for Women & Children in Perth, Western Australia, will provide a safe haven for women and children who have experienced family and domestic violence to get the support they need to be safe, heal, recover and thrive.

This world-leading Centre will be purpose-built for women and their children to access holistic, life-changing services in one location.

You can learn about the Centre by watching the video of our sod-turning event in November 2022 below.

Why do we need this?

One in every four Australian women has experienced family and domestic violence in Australia. Despite the efforts of agencies and governments for many decades, Western Australia continues to have one of the nation’s most shameful family domestic violence records with more than 16,000 assaults recorded in 2020. Countless more go unreported. 

Our existing system currently focuses on crisis responses, many of which are disconnected, confusing and re-traumatising for women and their children. But with reports of family and domestic violence assaults continuing to rise it is clear the current approach is not working and a bold new plan is needed.

The Ruah Centre for Women & Children is that new approach. It will be a first of its kind in creating a one-stop, safe place where women and children can get the help they need, when they need it, not just to be safe but to recover and heal from the long term impact of violence.

Learn more about the family domestic violence by watching the video below:

Addressing the challenges

The Ruah Centre for Women & Children will address the current challenges by:  

1. Creating a space for long-term healing 
   The Centre will provide space and time for healing and recovery, beyond the crisis response. Ruah clients can return for as long as it takes to heal, recover and thrive.
2. Children as clients in their own right 
   Ruah recognises children as victims of family and domestic violence, and therefore clients in their own right. By providing timely support for their recovery and healing, we can help end intergenerational cycles of abuse.
3. One place for all supports
   The stress, confusion and discouragement clients can face in negotiating a complex system is removed by providing the full range of services in one central place (whether within the Centre or via outreach from it). This ends the need for clients to navigate disconnected supports, re-telling their story to multiple providers, which can be a re-traumatising experience.
4. Providing both women and children with their own advocate 
   Each client is paired with their own trusted advocate – known as Koorta Guide. Koorta means “trusted friend” in Noongar. Koorta Guides will ‘walk alongside’ women and children through their journey to recovery, providing support and guidance to meet their needs. Children will also be connected to a Koorta Guide specifically for children.
5. Built on the voices of lived experience – the Karlup Service
   Our approach was designed from the voices of lived experience guiding the development of the innovative Karlup Service Model – a holistic and fully integrated service with women and children at the heart of service provision.

Our proven track record

Ruah has a strong and proven record for creating measurable positive outcomes through our innovative projects. Our experience with 50 Lives 50 Homes, a housing first approach to end homelessness, is an example of our dedication to solving and ending complex social problems.  50 Lives 50 Homes was a ground-breaking, collaborative response to supporting Perth’s most vulnerable rough sleepers.

Working alongside 30 organisations in the community services sector, and with the generous support of the Sisters of St John of God, the project saw 284 people who had been chronically rough sleeping supported into homes. The success of the project led to the development of The Zero Project, within which Ruah remains a dedicated partner organisation. The Zero Project supports communities across the Perth metropolitan area, Geraldton, Mandurah, Bunbury and Rockingham.

Research, feedback and an end to violence

Our goal is to create a blueprint for addressing family and domestic violence which can be replicated across Australia.  We will do this by:  

• Collecting evidence to understand the ways the Centre is impacting the lives of our clients 
• Gathering feedback and insights and using this to refine and improve our approach 
• Collaborating widely to catalyse wider system change  
• Working to create a model that is scalable and replicable, with the potential to be adopted nationally.

Would you like to join us in changing the future?

If you would like to help Ruah create safe, thriving futures for women and children, we are partnering with philanthropists and corporate donors to raise funds, with sector collaborators to innovate breakthrough solutions, and with the general public in raising awareness.

If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please contact us today.

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Thanks to our funding partners: