A decade ago, I entered the family violence system. I was a woman in crisis, navigating a high-risk escape. Ten years later, it’s an honour to be leading a crisis response service. That journey has taught me that survival is not the same as recovery.

Today I’m the Chief Executive Officer of Kara Family Violence Service. I lead a team of 20 women doing extraordinary work against a backdrop of relentless demand. We hold women through the darkest and most dangerous moments of their lives. We hold their fear, their hope and their determination to reclaim their futures, even as the system around us struggles to keep pace.

For the first time, in 2022, Australia’s 10-year national plan to end violence against women and children included four pillars: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing. But while the language has evolved, investment has not. Recovery and healing remain the least funded, least understood and least prioritised parts of this work.

As a crisis response service, our performance is measured by the number of clients supported and the number of nights a woman spends in refuge. But those metrics only tell a fraction of the story. 

Every part of our family violence service system is interconnected. There is no prevention without accountability, no healing without justice, no recovery without an adequate response. Trauma-informed care is not a buzz word – it’s the foundation of support. Upholding dignity while providing practical care is essential. Restoring agency to a woman’s life is not separate to finding her a safe exit – it’s part of it.  

What does it mean if we say healing and recovery matters, but we only fund services that focus on keeping women and children alive? The message is clear: we do not want you to die, but we are prepared for you to live in poverty, instability, and ongoing trauma. We are funding crisis, not healing. Funding survival, not restoration. We are willing to try and keep women alive, but not set them free.

True freedom requires time, stability, financial security, therapeutic support and a community that refuses to look away. It requires a system and society that understands that the trauma of family violence does not end when the violence stops.

Recently, I’ve been working as a sensitivity consultant for There’s No Place Like Home: Paths to Healing, a podcast about how to meaningfully enable long-term healing and recovery, like mine. This work reminds me that recovery is not linear. It’s not quick. It’s not something that can be achieved in eight weeks of funded support. 

Healing is a lifelong process shaped by the choices we make as a society. Whether we believe women the first time they speak. Whether we hold perpetrators accountable.Whether we provide safe housing, ensure access to counselling and mental health care, and create pathways to employment.

“I believe in a future where a woman fleeing violence does not have to choose between safety and homelessness.”

This kind of storytelling also highlights something we see so clearly in frontline work: the extraordinary strength of women. The courage it takes to leave. The resilience required to rebuild. The determination to protect their children, even when the system doesn’t protect them. Survivors are not fragile. They are fierce. 

If we are truly committed to ending gender-based violence – not just managing it – we must invest in the full continuum of prevention, early intervention, crisis support, healing and long-term recovery. These are not separate concepts. They are interdependent. When one is underfunded the whole system weakens – and women and children bear the cost.

I believe in a future where a woman fleeing violence does not have to choose between safety and homelessness. Where her healing is not dependent on her ability to pay for psychological care. Where her children can access trauma-informed support without months of waiting. Where she is not punished financially for the violence committed against her. Where the system lifts her up instead of asking her to climb her way out.

This future is possible. Survivors are already doing the work – every day, in every community. The question is whether we will meet them with the support they deserve.

Victim-survivors deserve more than a safety plan. They deserve a future. It’s time to invest in recovery. We need to build a system and society where women are not merely surviving violence, but finally free from it.