CWRG
SE QLD
Combined Women's
Refuge Group
Welcome
The Combined Women’s Refuge Group in South East QLD (CWRG) is a peak body representing the interests and concerns of the domestic and family violence refuge sector in South East Queensland. Our main aim is to continue to support women and children who are the victims of violence. Domestic and family violence continues to be a serious issue in our community. In the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey, over one third of women who had a current or former intimate partner reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence since the age of sixteen (Mouzos & Makkai 2004, p. 44). As a peak body, the CWRG aims to provide a platform for refuges to have their concerns raised and action taken to bring these issues to the public's attention.
CWRG receives no funding and relies on annual membership fees and donations to operate. The CWRG membership is made up of domestic violence refuges and specialist domestic and family violence services. All Executive Committee members are voluntary and the CWRG employs a secretariat to assist in the administration of the CWRG.
The CWRG is vital to ensuring the refuges and the women and children we support continue to have a voice and to ensure that the issues they face are raised in the public arena while we continue to ensure there are safe havens for women and children who are trying to escape violent homes.
Our values
1. Stand against DFV - The CWRG acknowledges that no level of violence against women and children is acceptable. We support the right for women and children to have immediate access to safe and supported accommodation to escape domestic violence, as well as the range of other specialist women's services that exist when refuge is not required.
2. Advocate for women and children, and refuges/services - The CWRG advocates for social justice, for the interests of women and children escaping domestic and family violence, and for the services which provide them with information, referral, accommodation and support, so that women and children can live free from violence.
3. Best practice - The CWRG is used as a platform to encourage best practice and aims to provide a space to encourage, innovate and share ideas, to ensure that women and children accessing services can be assured of receiving the same level of service provision no matter which service they access.
4. Inclusive access - We support inclusive access for all women and children escaping domestic and family violence and do not discriminate. We also recognise the vital need for specialised support for particularly vulnerable women and children escaping violence including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, CALD clients - particularly those further disadvantaged by lack of access to income, women and children in rural areas, and women and children with disabilities.
5. Have a voice - We recognise the need for the CWRG to have a strong voice in the community and with key stakeholders, working together towards our ultimate aim - for women and children to live a life free of violence.
Our Mission
The Combined Women's Refuge Group unites Domestic and Family Violence refuges to advocate for women and children's right to live a life free from violence.