Mackay talks about what is”Behind Closed Doors”
16 Days Of Activism Across Queensland
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is a
global campaign to raise awareness about violence
against women and its impact on a woman’s physical,
psychological, social and spiritual well-being.
Aliviyah Edwards, Anjel Arthur and Samantha Whitacker from
Mackay Grande Suites clubs and Lauren Pattie of DVRS.
The 16 Days of Activism begins on 25th November on
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
Women and ends on December 10th - International
Human Rights Day. These two dates highlight that
violence against women is a human rights abuse.
This year the Domestic Violence Resource Service
launched the Behind Closed Doors program with some of
our local clubs and pubs in the CBD of Mackay. This
involved delivering posters to be displayed in their
female bathrooms identifying the characteristics of a
violent relationship and the support that is available to
them in Mackay. Sometimes this is the only place a
woman experiencing domestic violence can be alone.
An information pack of DVRS resources was also
provided to staff.
Any other Mackay businesses that would like to offer
the same service to their clients, our Community
Education Officers would love to talk to you.
Adam Saron from Mojo’s nightclub and Lauren Pattie from DVRS
Working Together to Help
Local Families
Staff from the Mackay Women’s Centre and the Domestic
Violence Resource Service worked like little elves in
December to try to ensure that as many families as possible
had something with which to celebrate this year.
The call was put out to Red Hot Blue, OzCare and the Mum’s
and Bubs of Mackay group to supply hampers and presents
to be donated to the families who have accessed our
services. Each of these services provided an overwhelming
supply of goods.
Bonnie Davis (RHB), Jody Euller (RHB), Cherrie Hughes (DVRS) &
We have a lot of mothers who dread the Christmas season
Maeve O’Reilly (RHB).
every year, with the concern that they won’t be able to put food on the table, let alone get the kids some presents. The
wonderful display of support we have received shows just how much the community agrees that everyone deserves to
have a real Christmas; opening their hearts and pockets to make sure this happens to the families we can help out.
DVRS and Mackay Women’s Centre would like to say a very big thank you to all of those who contributed to the gifts and
hampers that were donated in 2013. Thanks in particular goes to Caneland Central, Phil Doring Insurance Brokers, Yoga
Fix, A+ Family Dental, Channel 7 and Elders Insurance Mackay. Thanks also to the media coverage supplied by WIN TV
(Josh and Stacie you made the process rather pleasant!) and the Daily Mercury who often support us here at DVRS.
Welcome to 2014
We here at DVRS would like to wish you all the best for 2014 –
We are looking forward to a productive year working with you all in an effort to serve
our community and clients as best we can. If there is any other way that we could
work with you to help women and families affected by domestic and family violence
please give us a call on 07 4957 3888 or email us at
[email protected].
Who Are We?
The Domestic Violence Resource Servic e of Mackay and region is a Not For Prof it
organ isation that provides a free servic e to women and children experiencing domestic
and family viol ence. S ervices offe red include;

Counselling and S upport for women & children

Court Supp ort an d assistance with applications for DV Protection Order s

Community Education
DVRS can offer inform ation, advice and ref erral to both women and children directly
affected by domestic and family violence as well as to anyone that may know someone
requiring support.
Did You Know?
DVRS Mackay empl oys Community Education Workers
who are a resource th at you or your organ is ation is
welcome to utilise .
The service s that these community educators offer
include;

providing res ources for your staff an d servic e users .

ensuring that your domestic and f amily violence
related resources are stocked and up to dat e.
 Presentations to the p ublic or staff education
sessions, or hosting discussions with groups
(including schools and businesses) on domes tic and
family violence iss ues .
A word from our Child & Adolescent Counsellor
If your family has experienced domestic violence during the holiday
period your child may find the return to school more stressful than
normal. Here are a few strategies that parents can put in place to
make that transition back into school as stress free as possible:




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Talk to your child and ask them how they feel. They may well
be feeling anxious at the thought of leaving you in case
something happens to you while they are not there. This can lead to anxiety and
attachment issues if it is not addressed.
Let your child’s teacher know that there has been an incident that may have affected your child. The more
support they have the better.
Try to keep a regular routine and discourage absences from school unless absolutely necessary.
If necessary develop a safety plan with the child if the domestic violence is ongoing.
Seek specialised support for your child through the Domestic Violence Resource Service to encourage your child
to explore their feelings around the domestic violence that they have experienced or witnessed.
Valentine’s Day
Take Care of the person you should value the most
Yourself – It’s Not Selfish
What is self-care? Self-care is unique to each individual. Self-care involves
actively caring and nurturing the many elements that make you the person
that you are, including the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual
parts of you. Self-care is important to maintain balance in your life and to
help you function.
The importance of self-care - For women who
have experienced or are experiencing domestic violence self-care can be even
more necessary. The effects of stress and trauma can be very debilitating for
women, and self-care can support you to manage these effects in order to
reduce the sense of feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, unhappy, angry and
assist you to function and move through life. Remember self-care is NOT
selfish! Taking time out to care for self-care can greatly assist mothers to
care for and be available to their children. You can teach your children selfcare strategies too which can help them to heal from stress and trauma.
Strategies for self-care - You are probably already using many strategies to care for yourself, however
good self-care is about trying to prioritise time (and perhaps finances) to care for yourself. It is about
making yourself aware of what you need in order to help you to function well in your life.
You could try….Walking, eating enough food, sleeping, accessing medical care, pampering yourself,
dancing, going to the gym, playing sports, accessing counselling, keeping a journal, having time away from
children, going to the beach, meditating or doing relaxation exercises, connecting with your faith,
socialising with others, having hobbies, listening to music, reading,
creating art, shopping, cooking, spending time with your animals, using
humour, hugging someone, writing a poem, making a to-do list, lighting
some candles or doing some gardening.
I would encourage you all to think about your strategies for self-care
and make the time to care for yourself.
Katie, Women’s Counsellor at the Domestic Violence Resource Service
(DVRS)
Please see one of the Counsellors at DVRS if you would like to discuss self-care further.
DID YOU KNOW? DVRS has two Court Support Workers who can offer you or your
client support with the legal processes that can be involved in domestic and family violence
situations. They can assist with questions, private Domestic Violence Applications and
alterations to existing DVO’s and can accompany you to court to support you.
Changes at CDFVR
The Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research (CDFVR) has undergone some major
changes in staff in the last few months and we thought we should share this exciting news with you all.
As part of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women
and their Children, a National Centre of Excellence to Reduce
Violence against Women and their Children has been established.
The purpose of the NCE is to build the evidence to inform national
policy and practice to achieve a significant reduction in violence
against women, particularly domestic violence and sexual assault.
After an interim CEO guided the establishment phase of the
Centre, our colleague, friend and mentor, Heather Nancarrow, has
become the NCE’s first appointed Chief Executive Officer. Heather
has been the director of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and
Family Violence Research for the past eleven years. The Centre, as
part of CQUniversity, has produced research, community
resources and training for the DV sector in Queensland. Heather
has also contributed to research on homelessness, criminology
and topics of various feminist concerns.
During Heather’s 30 years as a worker, policy developer and researcher within the DV sector, she has been
recognised with various awards, including the 2009 Queenslander of the Year “Community Spirit” award
and the 2005 Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Award. Heather was named as a Rotary
International Paul Harris Fellow and is a member of the Canadian Observatory on the justice system’s
response to intimate partner violence.
Heather was deputy chair of the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children,
which produced Time for Action, which in turn provided the blue-print for the Council of Australian
Governments’ National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. She has also
led advisory groups at state and federal levels.
Heather’s primary research interests are justice responses to domestic and family violence, particularly as
they relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. She is close to completing a PhD thesis
entitled “Mainstream Domestic and Family Violence Policy: Aspirations and Realities for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Women”. We are delighted that the board of the NCE has made such an excellent
appointment. Heather’s expertise and experience has contributed enormous value to the research and
provision of education and community resources within our sector, and her passion for community issues
has been a gift we will continue to treasure. While the academic and community sectors in Mackay, and the
Queensland organisations working with women and children affected by domestic and family violence, will
greatly miss Heather’s direct involvement and advice, the Australia wide research community will benefit
enormously from her leadership.
DVRS thanks Heather for her leadership and innovation at CDFVR
and in our community. We wish her every suc cess as she moves to
new opportunities leading Australia wide initiatives to inform
national policy and practice concerning violence against women .
Changes at CDFVR cont…
In December 2013 Annie Webster, who has held almost every position available at the Centre over the
past nine years, from Administration Officer, Education Officer and occasionally Acting Director;
decided to hang up her working boots and announce her ‘retirement’. Most of us who know her, are
doubtful that this will last very long as this energetic, passionate woman has too much to offer the
world to not be working in it! Annie has been an inspiration to many of us working in the domestic
violence sector, with her ability to add her own specialised touch to the research and professional
development work she has done with CDFVR, through working with service providers and workers in
the sector to inform it. We wish Annie the best of luck in whatever path her life leads her
next.
We would also like to welcome Colleen Gunning to the CDFVR team, Colleen has taken over
as Education Officer, after a long and successful past in the education and health sectors.
Colleen has worked in primary, secondary and tertiary education settings and on a range of
public health issues such as mental health, alcohol and other drugs and injury prevention.
She brings great experience and ideas to this changing team.
Domestic Violence
Prevention Month: May 2014
Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month
is an annual event held each May to raise
community awareness of the social and personal impacts of domestic and family violence and the support available to
those affected.
Each year DVRS holds a candle lighting ceremony on the first Wednesday in May to remember those who have died
as a result of domestic and family violence and those they have left behind. This year we plan to hold the ceremony on
Forgan Bridge before commencing the Walk Against Violence that always gets wonderful public support. We are also
working with other communities in the region to hold a similar ceremony in their community to raise awareness.
We are also planning to have other events including a creative installation commemorating the lives lost to Domestic
Violence in Queensland and a birthday celebration at the end of the month to celebrate our successes and to thank all
the organisations that we work with in an effort to provide as many services to our clients as possible.
What can you or your organisation do? If your organisation is doing something or would like to do something in May,
we would love to offer our support to your and your clients to raise awareness about domestic and family violence
and how we can prevent it.
We’re On Facebook!
Social Media such as Facebook are increasingly becoming the way to contact the world. If people are looking for information
and contact details it would seem that the ‘go to’ option is Google followed by Facebook. With this in mind DVRS can now be
found via both of these avenues as well as the more traditional option of the “White Pages” and on the internet.
When next catching up with the goings on in the world according to Facebook
take a moment and show your support by giving us a “Like”.
DVRS Turns 20!!!
This year the Domestic Violence Resource Service will celebrate 20 years of providing
free services to women and children affected by Domestic & Family Violence. It has
been estimmated that over these years the service has supported tens of thousands of
women in our local community through the journey that is acknowledging and
surviving domestic and family violence.
Of course we have not been alone in our effort to support these women and children, and to acknowledge
that DVRS are to hold a Morning Tea to thank those agenices in the Mackay region that have been integral
to us being able to serve our community.
Stay tuned for more information and we look forward to having you join us.
.
Helping Local Families Get Back To School
On th e 2 1 s t o f J an u a ry T h e M ack ay F ou n d at ion s tart ed d is tr ib u ti n g ou r 2 01 4
FR RR / Sid n ey My e r Ba ck to Sc h oo l v ou ch e rs . Th a n ks t o ou r lo ca l su p p or t er s
BM C, Du k e F ou n d at ion , Car ro ll ' s N e w s a n d H a st in g s D e er in g , we ar e g i v in g
ou t o v er $4 8, 00 0 wo rth of vo u ch er s an d b o ok p a ck s to h e lp loc al fa m il ie s i n
n e ed . Ca rro ll’ s Ne w s w i ll u s e a ll d on at ed N e w s Lu cky Bu y s R e ward p oi n ts
fro m to p u rc h a se sch o ol sta tion e ry i te m s a s p art o f ou r an n u a l B ac k to
Sch ool p ro gr a m. Th i s a llo w s th e F ou n d a tion t o co n tin u e to su p p or t Ma ckay f am il i e s in n e ed
p u rch a se s ch o ol su p p l ie s fo r th ei r c h i ld r en .
For m or e in fo r mat ion ab ou t th e won d e rfu l wor k th at th e fou n d ati on d o e s p le a se v i sit th ei r w eb p ag e
at ww w . ma ckay fou n d ati on .c o m.au .
Have you met Shennie Yasserie?
Closing The Gap
Shennie is the new full-time Indigenous Community Links worker for Relationships Australia, Mackay. She
has lived in Mackay all her life and has a connection to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and
Australian South Sea Islander communities.
Relationships Australia Mackay provides a support and referral service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. Shennie’s role as ICL is to assist in 'Closing the Gap' between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians by facilitating access to community services and information and supporting
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander community members and their families by providing links and referrals
to a range of mainstream and Indigenous services. In this role Shennie is very keen to work with DVRS to
ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Australian South Sea Islander communities have the
opportunity to engage with the service in a manner that best suits them.
Call Shennie today on 1300 364 277 if you have any
questions or to see if she can help your clients.
Calendar Of Dates for 2014
`January
20th World Day of Social Justice
26th Australia Day/Survival Day
27th Public Holiday for Australia Day
28th School Term Begins
June
3rd Mabo Day (Last Day of Reconciliation Week)
4th International Day of Innocent Children Victims of
Aggression
9th Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday
15th World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
February 27th School Term Ends
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
8th (Local Event) Shandee Blackburn’s 1st Angel
Party
14thValentines Day – Self-care Day
March
2nd Clean Up Australia Day
7th Local Event “Sarina Women’s Healthy Life, Feel
Good Expo” for International Women’s Day
8th International Women’s Day
20th National Closing The Gap Day
20th (Local Event) National Day of Action against
Bullying & Violence at Caneland Central
28th DVRS Elder Abuse Seminar facilitated by
Townsville Mackay Medical Local in Mackay
July
7-13th NAIDOC Week
11th (Local Event) NAIDOC Family Day
14th School Term Begins
August
16-24th Seniors Week
30th International Day of the Victims of Enforced
Disappearances
September
7-13th Child Protection Week
19th School Term Ends
October
4th School Term Ends
4-13th National Youth Week
13th Mackay’s Got Talent – MECC
18– 21st Easter
22nd School Term Begins
25th Public Holiday Anzac Day
April 6th Labour Day Public Holiday
7th School Term Begins
11th Internation Day of the Girl Child
24th Local Event – Reclaim the Night
November
th
25
International
Day
for
the
Elimination
of
Violence
May
Domestic Violence Prevention Month Against Women and the first Day of 16 Days of
th
7 (Local Event) DVRS Candle Lighting Ceremony & Activism Against Gender Violence
25th White Ribbon Day
Walk Against Violence
15th (Local Event) Family Law Pathways Network
Hypothetical
15-21st National Families Week
26th National Sorry Day
27th Start of Reconciliation Week
31st Morning Tea & DVRS 20th Birthday
Celebrations
December
10 International Human Rights Day and the last day
of the 16 Days of Activism Againsst Gender Violence
13th School Term Ends
th
Does your agency or organisation have an event this
year that you would like to have included on this
Calendar of Dates in our next publication? Send an
email with details to
[email protected]
Domestic Violence Services, Links & Information
ALWAYS CALL 000 first if there is life at risk
Domestic Violence Resource Service
...................................................... 4957 3888
418 Shakespeare Street ........................................................ www.domesticviolenceservice.com.au
(Mackay Women’s Centre) West Mackay ........................................................ Find us on Facebook.
Provides free counselling and Court Support for women, children and adolescents who are affected
by domestic and family violence. Open Monday to Friday, 8:30am — 4:30pm.
DVCONNECT for WOMEN & CHILDREN
..............................................
1800 811 811
Provides free crisis intervention, support, information, advocacy, telephone counsel ling, referrals and the state
wide coordination of emergency refuge and shelter placements across Queensland for women, children and
young people affected by domestic and family violence across Que ensland. This is a 24 hour 7 days a week
service .
DVCONNECT Sexual Assault Line
......................................................... 1800
010 120
Provides a free confidential service with experienced counsellors . This is a 24 hour 7 days a week service .
DVCONNECT FOR MEN (Mensline) ............................................................ 1800 600 636
Provides free crisis intervention, support, information, advocacy, telephone counselling for numerous issues &
referrals 9AM to Midnight 7 days
National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service
1800 RESPECT
24 hours a day 7 days a week for workers and clients ............................................... 1800 737 732
Queensland Centre for Domestic & Family Violence Research (CDFVR) ..... 4940 7834
CQ University, Mackay Campus ................................................................. www.noviolence.com.au
Undertakes research, develops educational resources and provides community engagement activities pertaining
to domestic and family violence.
Legal Aid Queensland ......................................................................................... 1300 651 188
17 Brisbane Street, Mackay ......................................................................................... 4967 0688
Provides legal information and referral services. Open Monday to Friday, 9:00am — 5:00pm.
Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre ................................................................ 4953
1211
Suite 4 City Court Arcade, 80 Victoria Street
Free and confidential legal information. Open Monday to Friday, 9:00am — 5:00pm.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service ............................................... 4953
33 Sydney Street, Mackay
4048
Provides free legal advice, support and counselling to all Aboriginals & Torres Strait Islanders.
Open Monday to Friday, 8:30am — 4:30pm.
Dispute Resolution Centre .....................................................................................
12 Brisbane Street, Mackay Court House, Mackay
4967 4404
Provides mediation services to the community. Open Monday to Friday, 9:00am — 4:30pm.
North Queensland Women’s Legal Service ......................................................... 1800
244 504
Offers assistance in areas of law which commonly affect women, such as family law and domestic violence.
Phone line is open Tuesday to Thursday, from 9:00am — 1:00pm.
THE LINE .................................................................................................................. www.theline.gov.au
Interactive relationship advice for teens, parents and teachers including a link to a useful APP.