(Left to right) Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre CEO Elise Phillips at the launch of the centre’s strategic plan with Minister for Health Ryan Park and Illawarra Women’s Health Centre chair Jessica Koot. Photo: Maika Shiine James.
Securing long-term sustainability, embedding lived experience into decision-making, and expanding services are key priorities for the evolution of Australia’s first dedicated trauma recovery model for women.
The Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre Strategic Plan 2026-2029 lays out a three-year roadmap to strengthen and scale long-term recovery support for women affected by domestic, family and sexual violence.
Established to bridge the critical gap beyond crisis intervention, the centre delivers specialised, long-term therapeutic, social and practical support designed to help women rebuild their lives and break cycles of violence and abuse.
To turn this vision into reality, the centre is focusing on long-term sustainability through robust governance, active campaigning for permanent funding and securing a larger site.
“We need to ensure we have enough space for all of our clients and staff, including an outdoor area, which we know is really healing for women when they are in nature,” Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre CEO Elise Phillips said.
Under this sustainability umbrella, growth will also be viewed through the lens of staff wellbeing, ensuring a safe work environment for complex care delivery.
With the centre having supported more than 300 women across the Illawarra since opening in 2024, Ms Phillips emphasised that hundreds of thousands more could benefit from similar healing and recovery services, underscoring the urgent need for national advocacy.
“Opening up one trauma recovery centre is not enough for us,” she said. “We will not stop until we have trauma recovery centres like ours right across the country. That’s expanding beyond just supporting adult women to also supporting their children and young people.”
Women accessing the service have described it as transformative, and the centre aims to continually refine its care by leaning into its co-design approach with women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence.
Moving forward, this will involve broadening the scope of available services to deliver on the original vision.
“There have been things women told us they needed when we were designing the service several years ago, and we haven’t actually yet enacted all elements of that model of care,” Ms Phillips said.
“So moving forward, we’re going to be adding to our suite of services to increase the accessibility of health and allied health services to the women accessing our service.
“We know trauma and abuse doesn’t just impact people’s mental health; it impacts their physical health as well, and having all the services that people need accessible in the one location is the most trauma-informed way to support women.”
Ms Phillips noted, however, that expanding this internal ecosystem would require looking outward.
Beyond growing its own clinical suite, the centre is turning its attention to broader ecosystem integration.
While the centre’s initial years focused on establishing internal operations, the upcoming strategy prioritises deeper community partnerships and regional collaboration.
“We know that we need to continue to strengthen our relationships with community partners so that we become a truly integrated part of the service system here in the Illawarra,” Ms Phillips said.
The model of care was co-designed with women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence and recognises the need for care to go beyond crisis intervention to address the long-term impact of trauma. By investing in the safety, health, and healing of women, the centre works toward breaking cycles of violence and abuse to prevent intergenerational transmission of trauma.
For more information, visit Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre.
Original Article published by Dione David on Region Illawarra.
