About

Immigrant Women’s Support Service

IWSS: Immigrant Women’s Support Service

The Immigrant Women’s Support Service (IWSS) is a specialist domestic violence and sexual assault service that provides direct support to women and their children from non-English speaking backgrounds who have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence. Our vision is that women from non-English speaking backgrounds and their children are safe, independent and hopeful about their future.

IWSS is based in West End and provides outreach to BSwS at Richlands. We provide support services either face to face or over the telephone.

Get in touch by calling 07 3846 3490 or emailing intake@iwss.org.au. A caseworker will discuss your options and can arrange a time to talk with you.

Our services are:

  • Free of charge – we are government funded
  • Confidential – we respect your right to privacy and confidentiality
  • Culturally sensitive – we are aware of the impact of the pre and post migration experience
  • and we’ll engage interpreters to ensure appropriate communication

We will:

  • Provide you with a safe and supportive space to talk about your concerns
  • Listen to your story without judging you
  • Talk to you about your rights and options available to you so you can make your own informed decisions
  • Engage interpreters to ensure appropriate communication
  • Provide one-off or ongoing support, counselling, and facilitated referrals to other services
  • Assist you to access other services in relation to legal matters, health issues, accommodation and financial assistance
  • Assist other service providers to develop culturally competent service delivery.

Services IWSS offers

If you are in a situation of crisis and need immediate assistance, we are available from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday on 07 3846 3490. Crisis support may include:

  • Assistance to escape from a situation of domestic violence
  • Support in relation to a recent sexual assault or an event that may trigger memories of a past sexual assault
  • Help to access supported/crisis accommodation or other housing options
  • Urgent legal advice for immigration, family law, criminal matters and domestic violence orders

If you need crisis support outside these hours, please find our support hotlines page.

If you need support to negotiate the different support systems we can provide you with ongoing support over a period of time negotiated with you. Ongoing support may include:

  • Support to report sexual assault
  • Assistance to access the court system for domestic violence orders, family law, criminal matters such as rape and assault; accessing legal advice for immigration and other matters
  • Support to access health services, housing and financial assistance

Counselling is available to assist you to assess your needs, set goals, consider your options, discuss your safety and other concerns, talk about your feelings, access other services that you may require and plan for the future.

We can discuss with you the impact of domestic violence on children, how to keep you and your children safe, and facilitate access to services available to children.
If you have a child who has been sexually abused, we can help you to report the abuse, and to access support services for your child.

We offer community education sessions to groups interested in finding out about domestic violence and sexual violence, services provided by IWSS, the law in Australia and other topics as negotiated.

Given our experience in providing support services to immigrant and refugee women and children who have experienced domestic violence and/or sexual violence, we are well positioned to provide specialist knowledge to service providers including:

  • Information on multicultural resources and services
  • Resources and information in community languages
  • Service development on working with interpreters, making services culturally appropriate and responsive to diverse community groups

Contact IWSS for support

For sexual violence support in Richlands, contact IWSS:

07 3846 3490
intake@iwss.org.au

https://iwss.org.au/

Check out the IWSS podcast episode Coercive Control at

https://iwss.org.au/audio/