We walk alongside Aboriginal women and their children on their journey to safety and wellbeing.
Welcome to Djirra
Djirra is safe place where culture is shared and celebrated.
We offer a range of practical supports to Aboriginal women and children in Victoria, particularly those who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, family violence.
The work we do is designed by and for Aboriginal women, with self-determination at its heart.
Through supports, programs and loud advocacy, we are committed to a future where Aboriginal women don’t just survive, we thrive.
What we do
Legal Service
Upcoming Events
If you are experiencing family violence and need support please call 1800 105 303.
If you are in immediate danger,
call 000.
Djirra’s offices will be closed from 3pm today for the holiday period. We will reopen at 9am on Monday 5 January 2026.
If you have an immediate concern for your safety, please call 000.
Support services are available during this time, including:
🖤 Family violence support (24/7): Safe Steps – 1800 015 188
💛 LGBTIQ+SB community support (10am–5pm/7 days): Rainbow Door – 1800 729 367
❤️ Homelessness crisis support: Victoria – 1800 825 955
💛 Sexual Assault Crisis Line (after hours): SACL – 1800 806 292
🖤 Crisis support & yarning services (24/7):
• Lifeline – 13 11 14
• Yarning Safe ’N’ Strong – 1800 959 563
• 13YARN – 13 92 76; 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions
As 2025 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on everything we’ve achieved together this year - moments filled with strength, connection and community.
Our highlights included:
✨ delivering over 650 Koori Women’s Place workshops since the program commenced
✨ celebrating our 200th Sisters Day Out® in Mildura
✨ launching an expanded service in Mildura, so that Aboriginal women across the Mallee can access Djirra’s full suite of legal and non-legal services, alongside early intervention and prevention programs
✨ hosting our second NAIDOC Family Day at Djirra in the West, where over 400 people celebrated with us including 150 Aboriginal children
✨ delivering hundreds of Christmas hampers to Aboriginal women and kids
✨ hosting our third powerful ACTIVEism® Festival as part of our 16 Days of ACTIVEism
✨ bringing ACTIVEism to Canberra for our Walk Around Lake Burley Griffin, in partnership with @SistersInSpirit
✨ our CEO @Antoinette_Braybrook AM completed her Churchill Fellowship, which sets out a clear business model to guide Djirra’s Aboriginal Women’s Centre, regional expansion and long-term sustainability
✨ developing our business case that takes us one step closer to realising our 23 year vision to establish Djirra’s Aboriginal Women’s Centre
We are strengthened by everything we have achieved together and grateful for the community, partners and supporters who walk beside us every day.
We plan on keeping our momentum for change going in 2026 and beyond. We will continue to advocate loudly to ensure Aboriginal women are seen, heard and valued.
We would like to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for your ongoing support.
Stay tuned in 2026 for even bigger and better things from Djirra!
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions #CulturalStrength #CommunityStrong #Djirra
There’s still time to donate to Djirra before Christmas.❤️
While the festive season is a time of joy for many, for some Aboriginal mums it’s a time of fear, violence and separation. Family violence spikes over the holiday period and is the single biggest driver of Aboriginal kids being removed from their mums.
Your donation helps Djirra provide Aboriginal women experiencing family violence with the support they need to be safe all year round.
Djirra provides legal support, advocacy and practical assistance - keeping mums and their kids safe and together.
Give a Christmas gift that gives back.
Donate before Christmas: bit.ly/djirraxmasappeal
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions #DjirraChristmasAppeal #DonateAU
Your support this Christmas keeps Aboriginal mums and their children safe and together.
For too many Aboriginal women, Christmas is not a time of celebration. It is a time of fear, heightened risk and separation. Family violence is the single biggest driver of child removal in Victoria, and incidents spike over the holiday period, including a 33 per cent increase on Christmas Day alone.
Aboriginal women in Victoria are 45 times more likely to experience family violence. When services are stretched and isolation increases, the risk to women and children intensifies.
Your donation strengthens Djirra’s work to keep Aboriginal mums and their children safe and together, every day.
Give a Christmas gift that gives back – make a donation to Djirra today at bit.ly/djirraxmasappeal
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions #DjirraChristmasAppeal #DonateAU
Kirby Bentley, Noongar woman and Djirra Ambassador, shares her family’s devastating loss of her Aunty Andrea to family violence. She does this to raise awareness, to speak truth, and to work towards a future where Aboriginal women can finally be safe.
This year’s 16 Days of ACTIVEism was all about amplifying the voices of Aboriginal women and highlighting the disproportionate impact of violence on our women and children.
Kirby understands too well the profound impact that violence against women has on our families. She uses her voice to influence change so that Aboriginal women can live lives free from violence.
Kirby’s family experienced the unspeakable pain of losing Andrea, a Noongar woman, a mother who loved and cherished her children. Her life was tragically taken by a man. Andrea was not believed by the system. Her safety was not a priority.
Andrea’s story was shared widely through the media following a coronial inquest, which made several recommendations for improving how systems respond to women whose lives are at risk.
Djirra has walked alongside Kirby’s family for close to two decades, keeping Andrea’s story front and centre, and pushing for the change Aboriginal women deserve.
Kirby’s leadership reminds us that change takes time, but that we must never stop sharing our stories, telling the truth, and demanding better for Aboriginal women – during the 16 Days of Activism, and every day.
@kirbybentley
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions #16DaysOfACTIVEism
Today, on Human Rights Day and the final day of the 16 Days of Activism, we are confronted with the stark contradiction between Victoria’s recent milestones and the reality that the rights and safety of Aboriginal women and children continue to be consistently overlooked by governments.
Last month, Victoria entered into the first Statewide Treaty. And this week, the Victorian Government delivered an Apology to our people for the profound harms caused by the State. These are important and historic steps but they must be backed by real action.
Real action begins with removing punitive laws, not inventing new ways for systems to harm our people. Real action begins with governments committing to, and implementing, all recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
Reflecting on the significance of this week, our CEO, @antoinette_braybrook said:
“Our people have fought tirelessly for what we witnessed this week. Now governments must move beyond words and deliver real action. Action that lifts our rights to where they belong, holds our safety as non-negotiable, and recognises the true value of our lives.”
We will not stop holding governments to account. NOT TODAY, AND NOT EVER.
#WeHaveTheSolutions #TruthTelling #Treaty #AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #16DaysOfActivism #HumanRightsDay
Every day, Skye Gooch (Kunja/Wiradjuri), our Manager of Individual Support Services, walks beside Aboriginal women at Djirra. For more than five years, Skye has listened deeply, honoured the individual journeys Aboriginal women choose to take, and shown up with strength, care and unwavering commitment.
We asked Skye - “How do you activate your ACTIVEism?”
Skye says ACTIVEism begins with hearing women’s stories and ensuring Aboriginal women’s voices are centred, respected and amplified. Aboriginal women are strong, courageous and resilient, each woman is best placed to make decisions about her own life and the lives of her children.
Skye’s work reflects what Djirra stands for – specialist support grounded in trust and connection.
Aboriginal women working on the frontline, including Skye, deserve recognition not only across these 16 days but every single day.
We honour frontline workers who show up for Aboriginal women, support safety in the most challenging times, and hold space for each woman to be seen, believed and supported.
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #WeHaveTheSolutions #16DaysOfACTIVEism
On this 12th day of 16 Days of Activism, we cannot ignore the brutal reality Aboriginal women face.
🩷 One third of women killed by men’s violence since June 2024 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women - despite us comprising just 3.8% of the Australian female population.
💜 In Victoria, Aboriginal women are 45 times more likely to experience family violence.
There are several ways you can support Djirra to stand with Aboriginal women.
Get ACTIVE and start SWIPING now to see the different ways you can make a real impact.
Demand for Djirra’s services continues to grow. Our legal service alone has seen a 211% increase in demand since 2020.
Your support makes an immediate, practical difference for the women who most need what we do.
#16DaysOfActivism #AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #ACTIVEism
Djirra does not support the criminalisation of coercive control that will likely lead to serious unintended consequences for the very people these laws are meant to protect. Women, and especially Aboriginal women, will bear the brunt.
In our work we see the racial targeting and labelling of Aboriginal women as the primary aggressor of violence, rather than their safety being a priority.
The evidence from other states shows that standalone coercive control offences do not reduce harm or lead to more successful prosecutions - why isn’t our Government taking note?
Coercive and controlling behaviour is already recognised in Victoria’s family violence laws. What we need now is better use of the tools that already exist - not to create new laws that risk further criminalising and comprising women lives.
We call for the urgent investment into Djirra’s work so that we can raise awareness amongst our women about early identification of coercive control and the importance of accessing our specialist legal and non legal frontline services.
Image description: image and quote from @antoinette_braybrook, CEO of Djirra
