AnglicareSA will partner with Aboriginal family and domestic violence specialist service, Nunga Mi:Minar to construct a $2-million emergency and crisis accommodation facility in Adelaide’s north for Indigenous women and children fleeing domestic violence.
The new grant follows today’s announcement by the Federal Government’s of a $60 million ‘Safe Places Emergency Accommodation’ program to keep women and children safe from domestic and family violence across the nation.
AnglicareSA CEO Peter Sandeman hailed the outcome as “great news” as it will allow both organisations to address one of the most pressing challenges facing our society by not only offering emergency, short term safe housing but providing access to appropriate and specialist support.
“We know that Indigenous women report domestic and family violence at more than three times the rate of their non-Indigenous counterparts and are more than 11 times more likely to die due to assault than non-Indigenous women,” he said.
“Thanks to this generous grant, the healing place we will deliver on an identified greenfield site in Adelaide’s north, will each year provide almost 50 single women and women and their children with a temporary safe space, in a culturally sensitive, secure and supported environment, while they work through their trauma and get back on their feet.”
Mr Sandeman also thanked Nunga Mi:Minar CEO Tina Quitadamo for her organisation’s input in guiding the design to meet the needs of Indigenous women and children.
“Their input was integral to our success and we look forward to working with Tina and her team as we deliver on the housing elements of the project and Nunga Mi:Minar leverages its cultural knowledge and lived experience to provide the necessary services.
“Together, our pooled skills and resources will provide a service response unmatched in South Australia.”
Ms Quitadamo, in turn, highlighted the importance of fostering opportunities for women and children to make their own decisions through in a secure and supported environment.
“The over representation of our women and children living with violence is unacceptable,” Ms Quitadamo said.
“We have deeply listened to the voices of women and children from all over Australia who come to Nunga Mi:Minar, displaced from their Country and communities. As an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation, we carry the cultural knowledge and the solutions.”
About the accommodation
More than bricks and mortar, the Safer Places accommodation represents a collaboration between two organisations based on the principles of Connections, Country, Culture and Community.
The $1.8-million grant, with the balance contributed by AnglicareSA, will see the construction of three studios and two three-bedroom homes in a communal-like setting, grounded in ‘place and country’ to meet the physical and cultural needs of Indigenous women and children.
The complex, expected to open to its first residents in mid-2022, will also contain private and shared open space, along with an office and a multi-purpose room to further facilitate the delivery of services.
Both AnglicareSA and Nunga Mi:Minar will consult with local Kaurna traditional custodians of land in Adelaide to develop and arrive at a suitable Kaurna name for the facility.