Australia's first Safe Woman, Safe Family launches in Mandurah

The two founders of Australia’s first Safe Woman, Safe Family program Tanya Langford and Irene Lydon gave insight into the program at an information forum recently. 

“Child poverty in single-parent families sit at 20-25 per cent,” Ms Langford said.  

“It has been rising incrementally for the past few years.

“I look at these things and think, isn't it just blazingly obvious, we have a lot of women in our community who need more.  And there's not enough out there. 

“Yes, we need more. We need a Safe Woman Safe Family Centre in Mandurah; we need one in Pinjarra; we need one everywhere.” 

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The Safe Woman, Safe Family program is set to kick off at the beginning of next term, with hopes that a dedicated space will be created in Mandurah by the end of the year. 

Ms Langford said, simply put it would be a drop-in centre which would open its doors to anyone and everyone. 

It would be a safe space which would “provide all the kind of things these women need” including different therapies such as dance, art and music therapy. 

“We would be doing advocacy for people; we would do referrals,” Ms Langford said.

“Whatever their needs are ... we would link them up with the agencies and having them come in.

“Agencies like Palmerston for example – having them come in half a day a week.

“It would make life easier for these women, keeping in mind that a lot of these women don't have cars; they don't have money for cars.

“And if they do have them, they break down all the time.

“Getting from one appointment to another is beyond the capacity for a lot of women.”

The Safe Woman, Safe Family program will also weave in elements from Heal For Life, a program from New South Wales which aims to empower people to heal from childhood trauma and child abuse.

“Something they do is work on the principal of peer-trained support mentors,”  Ms Langford said. 

“The most successful way of working with people who have been through trauma or abuse is a therapeutic approach utilising survivors who have healed, trained as support mentors.”

For more information go to safewomansafefamilywa.com