Our Programs
Support for
Referral Agencies
A new journey
Helping your clients start their new journey
with dignity
Our purpose is to support victim-survivors of, or those currently experiencing domestic violence. We provide non-contact support to men, women and children so that they are assisted and supported to commence their lives anew in a safe environment.
About the Friends
with Dignity Team
All of our team are volunteers, but that isn’t to say that we just accept anyone who comes along. Our volunteers are subject to a stringent application process, including a national Police Check, and we all sign a Confidentiality Agreement in order to ensure the safety and anonymity of your clients in a completely respectful and professional manner.
At no time are any of us permitted to have any direct or personal contact with clients we are assisting for you. As your client’s personal contact, you will always act as the liaison between that client and our Friends with Dignity volunteers.
Client eligibility criteria
Your client’s safety is at risk due to them having been directly affected by Domestic Violence, whether this be physical, emotional, verbal or mental.
Your client is currently displaced as a result of their experience with Domestic Violence
Your client has limited or no other means of obtaining support for practical items
Your client has left their abusive relationship and is committed to making a change
If you believe that your client meets the above criteria, your service is then able to determine which of the Friends with Dignity services is best able to meet the client’s needs.
Our Programs
Sanctuary Program
The purpose of our Sanctuary program is to create a safe living environment for people who have escaped domestic violence so that they are able to commence their new journey with dignity, free from abuse.
Our dedicated Team Leaders coordinate volunteer teams that work hard to create a Friends with Dignity Sanctuary using items donated by our supporters. These can take the form of household and personal care items, gift cards and financial donations which allow us to purchase necessary items. Our primary goal is to create a welcoming home for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence who have literally left behind their entire lives (and, in many cases, everything they own) when they escape their Domestic Violence situations.
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This service is suited only to those specific clients who you feel fit the complete criteria, have been affected by Domestic Violence and are fully prepared to move on with their lives in an independent living environment. We do not provide accommodation per se; we simply provide the fit-out of client- or Agency-sourced accommodation to a basic comfortable standard (with a few extras thrown in, if we are able!)
They must have:
• Already secured permanent accommodation
• Limited or no furniture and household items with no ability to source these from elsewhere
Sanctuaries are completed in up to seven days from when our Team Leader receives the keys and the feedback from clients (via their liaison person) is very heartening to all of us as volunteers.
Urgent Requests
An Urgent Request is for specific individual items to provide immediate assistance to your client. Some examples include: furniture, toiletries, help with bills, etc. No request is completely out of the question, so please ask for whatever your client needs. In most cases, we’re sure to be able to assist.
Little Friends
While some support is available for parents to settle their children in a new school, the financial barriers during the transition from refuge to sanctuary often mean that the child isn’t able to have the right uniforms or the right books and they are often unable to go on school excursions. This makes the transition for the child more difficult and can result in the child being bullied or developing self-esteem and confidence issues at school.
The Little Friends Program gives a helping hand with ‘getting life back to normal’ as much as possible through funding uniforms and booklist costs as well as after and out of school sports activities and club memberships.
The sole criteria for a Little Friends’ request is simple:
More than anything else children should be able to play – will this request assist them to do so?
Registered Agency
If you are already registered with us and you have your Unique ID, please click below to access our Referring Agency Request Portal. If you do not know the password, please email request@friendswithdignity.org.au and we will assist you.
Unregistered Agency
If you would like more information about any of our programs, or would like to register your agency with us, please email
request@friendswithdignity.org.au
Join Us
towards building a nation free from domestic violence.