The Goldfields Women’s Refuge has long been the sole provider of crisis services, specifically an accommodation provider for women and children in the Goldfields, providing a secure and safe haven. The women and children coming to Finlayson House have generally suffered from the effects of family and domestic violence or face homelessness or other life challenges that often find them destitute and in need of immediate help.

Based at Finlayson House, a team of dedicated professionals take a holistic approach to individual needs, working alongside women to plan their way forward. Finlayson house provides support, including Outreach Services, and Mobile Family and Domestic Violence Services to enable individuals to achieve their goals in a way that is suitable to their specific requirements.

As a not-for-profit run organisation, the GWR has a board of volunteers to oversee the business performance of the organisation, guaranteeing long term viability and ensuring it abides to the objectives in the GWR’s constitution.  The Board also ensures adherence to all regulatory and reporting requirements as outlined by the Department of Communities for NHHA Family and Domestic Violence Accommodation and Support Services.  

The board maintains diversity in its members to ensure it represents the culturally and linguistically diverse community who take up all the unique services provided by the GWR.  This ensures that as a group of professionals, the combined applicable skills and knowledge are at the decision making, governing level of the organisation. Developing and implementing systems that enable it to comply with all the legal and policy obligations and providing the guidance to the Chief Executive for consistent quality assurance.

As Chair, I’m thrilled to launch this website as evidence of the good governance our organisation adheres to and thank my fellow board members for coming on this journey with me.