"Investment not Incarceration"

With Armidale and communities across the New England region talking about the effects of youth crime along with having some of the NSW highest child and young person removal rates and equally low rates of restoration, more needs to be done to understand the complex and interlocking issues of homelessness; violence against children and young people; and cultural safe and trauma informed mental health supports.

Your hosts - Women's Shelter Armidale

The Women’s Shelter Armidale is an independent, community owned organisation, with a 22,500km2 footprint in the Northern Tablelands region of NSW. We were just the second shelter to be established in NSW and we look forward to celebrating our 50 year anniversary in 2026. So we have been providing specialist expertise in domestic violence and homelessness to vulnerable women and families for almost longer than anyone at this point and we are proud of all we have achieved and continue to achieve for our community as leaders in this sector.

WSA’s direct service delivery includes:

24/7 domestic violence specialist response
Crisis accommodation
Support to access and sustain temporary, transitional, social and private housing options
Direct provision of trauma informed services to children and young people as victims of domestic and family violence in their own right
Therapeutic and educational group programs
Supported playgroup
Food relief program
Client led intensive case management and referral service
Community education and awareness activities

This year, the Women's Shelter Armidale is expanding it's direct service delivery for the community with the opening of 'Trackside' - our new community service hub, open 24 hours/7 days with access to evening and weekend youth centre services, crisis accommodation, laundry, bathroom and meals, alongside co-located support services for housing, mental health, substance misuse and more. We are excited to share the opening of this facility with you all during the week of the conference.

Gathering in Armidale 17th to 19th of June 2025

We are bringing together leaders and practitioners from Government and Non-Government organisations across the New England to discuss, learn and share how we all get better at preventing and responding to children and young people who are at risk of violence, homelessness and poor mental health.

Key sessions across the three streams include:

What young people are calling for to protect themselves from violence and reduce their risk of homelessness
What are the key tenets of good youth work practice
Intersections of homelessness, juvenile justice, out of homecare and violence against young people
The role that culture plays for Aboriginal young people
How to better involve young people in your organisation to protect them from harm as well as improve your programming
How to utilize a rights based approach to get better outcomes for young people