SI Griffith - Elder Abuse Forum

Elder abuse is a growing problem across Australia as our population ages. It has remained largely hidden and most often occurs within families. While most reported cases are of a financial nature, the abuse can also be psychological, emotional, physical and sexual.

This project’s aim was to build community awareness surrounding the issue of Elder Abuse and provide tools on identifying and reporting any cases and educating people on how to take action. This was achieved by SI Griffith holding a Public Community Forum with guest speaker President of the Commission for Ageing, Professor Rosalind Croucher AM.

SI Griffith worked closely with Griffith Aged Support Service, Griffith City Council and Griffith Exservicemen’s Club to plan and execute the Community Forum. Media released were circulated to local media along with Facebook Advertising and flyers advertising the event. The audience for the Forum was 120 participants.

SI Torrens - Changing Attitudes

This project was formed from SI Torrens partnering with Women’s Legal Services South Australia and recognising that programmes which can offer assistance to victims of domestic violence, need to be promoted and offered to women working to support these victims.
An event was organised which brought together diverse service providers who could outline their services, provide a means of exchanging information and helping educate front-line workers with information to assist their clients with.

There were 12 service groups who spoke at the event and over 40 more attended and were involved during time allocated for discussion. Over 110 people attended the event.

SI Griffith - Exploitation of Overseas Workers

This project began through SI Griffith Soroptimist links with SI Mandurah (WA) and SI Moreton North (QLD) with these areas having high numbers of backpackers and other overseas workers and a need to help with advocacy specifically in relation to women backpackers and their safety.
During this advocacy work it was identified through data provided by the Australian Federal Police that there were large numbers of overseas workers to the Griffith area that were being exploited.

SI Griffith aim was to not only host a Community Forum to build awareness of this issue but also undertake further work on this issue, either locally or through advocacy at state and national levels.

SI Griffith created flyers and Facebook posts; media releases were written and sent to local radio stations and newspapers. 70 people attended the forum and further work with the local Salvation Army personnel enabled SI Griffith to organise assistance to overseas workers in the local area who needed help by providing basic food items and assistance in distributing “help” cards to overseas workers.

Si Bangsar - Health Camp

This project began with a partnership between SI Bangsar, the Regency Hospital and Dr Maria Fernandez of SI Johor Bahru and the recognition of local underprivileged communities that would benefit from access to medical services and education.
Three communities were identified as a focus. These communities included low income families living in low cost housing areas, where incomes are small and women within the communities are lacking in education and skills.

A health camp was organised to provide education on healthy lifestyles, family planning, nutrition and making better future decisions with the help from medical staff from the Regency Hospital and final year Medical Students from Newcastle University.
100 residents from one of the identified communities participated in the programme and were offered blood and body mass index tests, a medical examination, nutrition advice, health and hygiene advice and family planning advice and discussions.

The project also opened the doors for future projects including follow up health checks and a literacy programme as the local women expressed interest in learning English and were keen to bring their children along.

SI Mackay - Bags for Change

This project aim was to bring together predominately women and girls to educate about the replacing of single-use plastic with environmentally sustainable bags within the local community.

Community service empowers people through expanding social networks. This no-cost project provided an inclusive environment for women and girls to meet and contribute together. Giving these women a sense of belonging to a supportive community along with a sense of achievement.
At least 100 women were involved in the production of these bags from recycled materials and the bags given to St Vinnies who regularly hand out food hampers to disadvantages low income families to use and re-