An emergency accommodation project to support women and children leaving domestic violence is reaching major construction milestones at Condobolin. Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and the Condobolin Catholic parish have united to transform a church property for the new purpose.
This project received grant funding from the Australian government.
The planned facility will bring much-needed support to the Lachlan local government area (LGA), which ranked 14th highest in the state for domestic violence assaults in 2022 in NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) data.
BOCSAR figures show the LGA recorded 54 reported incidents in 2022, but its largest town, Condobolin, is 100 kilometres away from the nearest women’s shelter at Forbes.
Project manager CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes secured $800,785 from the Australian government’s Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program for the capital works.
The Catholic Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes has made a generous in-kind contribution of the land and building at Condobolin.
Renovations are on track for the church property to start its next chapter within the coming months.
Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, parish priest Father Getulio Goncalves, and representatives from CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and the Condobolin parish visited the property in March to view progress.
Local builder John Adams was engaged to lead the capital works.
“Women and children experiencing domestic violence in western NSW need and deserve access to safe emergency accommodation, which is what this new facility will deliver,” CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said.
“From office space on site, our team members will provide wraparound support to the families staying in this safe place.”
Through the Condobolin project the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes seeks to welcome and care for the vulnerable and promote peace, the life and dignity of the human person.
“We are called to reach out to those in need, and share hope and light in the world,” Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green said.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes CEO Anne-Marie Mioche has congratulated Board Member Lynda Edwards who has won the prestigious 2023 NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year Award.
Ms Edwards was also named NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year at the NSW Women of the Year Awards presentation in Sydney on Thursday morning.
Ms Mioche said the organisation was thrilled the important work of Ms Edwards had been recognised on the state stage.
“Lynda, a proud Wangkumara and Barkandji woman, is a dedicated advocate for First Nations people in the financial sector,” Ms Mioche said.
“Her work has contributed significantly to fairer financial outcomes for First Nations people.
“Her valuable contribution to our community in western NSW also includes serving in the voluntary role of director of the CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes board.”

Separating and separated families in far-western NSW can now access a safe, nurturing and impartial place for children to see their other parent or extended family at the new Broken Hill Children’s Contact Service (CCS).
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes (CCWF) has opened the centre to provide supervised contact visits and changeover services.
The child’s needs are the primary focus of the service, and its purpose is to allow children to stay connected with both parents and other significant people in their lives, in situations where families are unable to manage their own contact arrangements.
Children’s Contact Services currently operate in more than 60 locations across Australia, but until now, the nearest to Broken Hill was at Mildura, a three-hour drive away.
CCWF received $2 million in Australian government funding over four years to establish the Children’s Contact Service in the far-western NSW city.
CCWF chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said the establishment of the Children’s Contact Service brought a valuable and much-needed service to the Broken Hill community.
“The purpose of the Children’s Contact Service is to provide children the opportunity to re-establish or maintain a meaningful relationship with both parents, as well as grandparents and other significant people in their lives,” Ms Mioche said.
“The opening of the Children’s Contact Service reflects our commitment to responding to need, and is the realisation of a long campaign by the city’s social and legal services.”
CCWF has a strong record of delivering support and social services in western NSW.
The Broken Hill Children’s Contact Service provides a safe, non-judgemental and positive environment for young people up to 18 years of age, and their parents.
Its professional team is headed up by CCWF Healthy Relationships – Children’s Contact Services delivery leader Mark Braes, who has a wealth of experience in the sector.
“We know that for some separated parents, experiences of worry, fear and anger can make it difficult to manage child contact arrangements and the co-parenting relationship,” Mr Braes said.
“Our team of contact workers facilitate safe, positive and child-focused contact visits.
“The centre has a range of age-appropriate resources to help children enjoy time with their visitor.
“Contact workers are present during visits and can provide support to children and parents.”

Eugowra residents devastated by flash flooding can continue to call on CatholicCare WilcanniaForbes (CCWF) for financial counselling services.
The CCWF team has been on the ground helping people contact insurance companies, banks, utility providers and any other assistance needed, and people can also phone them on 1800 067 067 to chat or arrange a visit.
It continues CCWF’s commitment to the town of about 700 people since disaster struck on November 14, tragically claiming two lives.
More than 200 buildings at Eugowra were damaged or destroyed by the flash flooding, authorities report.
With the need so great, CCWF team members based at Forbes and Parkes quickly rallied to assist Eugowra, helping with the clean-up and offering emotional support in the aftermath.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche visited Eugowra, and the organisation donated goods worth thousands of dollars to provide immediate relief.
Employees swapped normal duties to assist in the town, and even volunteered in their own free time, bringing family members with them.
“Members of our team at Forbes and Parkes did not hesitate, they wanted to be there for the people of Eugowra who have lost so much,” Ms Mioche said.
CCWF staff worked alongside defence force personnel going from house to house, and listened to people’s stories of survival, and provided information about CCWF services.
Team members met Eugowra residents returning from the evacuation centre at Orange to accompany them to their homes – for some it was the first time they saw their property since the flood.
CCWF workers also rolled up their sleeves to provide practical support, cleaning, ripping up and dragging out carpet and helping clear out other ruined items from houses and yards.
They delivered food and drinks to residents, did first aid when required, and helped people look for cats and dogs, missing since the flood.
CCWF team member Rebecca Palenapa-Pili was one of the group and said it was “just devastating” to see the destruction caused by the flash flooding and wanted to do all she could to alleviate people’s distress.
A few days after helping one man, he shared his progress with her.
“He wanted to tell me about his day and what he’d been doing at the evacuation centre, and just how much we’d helped him and how much better he felt, because he said, ‘I couldn’t have done this without you guys’,” Ms Palenapa-Pili said.
Colleague Andrew Bament was at Eugowra for five days leading a crew to sort donated goods – ranging from clothes, shoes, food, toiletries, camping equipment and more – and set them up in an orderly system for community members.
Mr Bament said when he first arrived at Eugowra after the flash flood, the scene reminded him of the cyclones he had seen as a child in far-north Queensland.
“Pictures do not do it justice, the devastation this community has experienced is incredible,” he said.
Eugowra sits outside the Catholic Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes, but has links with Forbes.
Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, Bishop of the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes, travelled to Eugowra to support the neighbouring community, where he said there were people who had “lost
everything, in the true sense of the word”.
With prolonged flooding along western NSW catchments this spring, the diocese was in gear to respond to the real and immediate needs facing Eugowra residents.
“We’ve been able to help financially in Eugowra, as we are with Forbes and everywhere else,” he said.
“We did it because they’re our neighbours.”
Bishop Columba, whose father’s family came from Eugowra, offered reassurance to the “strong and resilient” residents of the small town.
“It’s going to be really difficult for the people of Eugowra, and it’s really going to be important to know you are not alone,” he said.
“So I can speak for the people of Forbes, Forbes is always going to be there with you, to help you, and you’ve just got to know that you’re not alone, because sometimes in a situation like that, you can feel a bit alone, especially later on.
“Forbes will always be here, hang in there.
“God hasn’t forgotten you, and neither have we.”

The mission to improve mental health and end stigma will step up at Broken Hill this month.
Community members are invited by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes to the Broken Hill Mental Health Expo on November 8.
Actor and mental health champion Sam Webb will give a special guest talk at the free event.
Webb co-founded mental health charity LIVIN in 2013 after the death of a good friend to suicide.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Better Health and Wellbeing Portfolio delivery leader Jodie Callegher is inviting schools, parents, carers, students and other community members to come along to the expo.
She said a highlight will be the talk by Webb, who is also known for his appearances in Home and Away, Neighbours and Australian Survivor.
Webb gave inspiring and insightful talks at similar mental health expos organised by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes in June at Parkes, Forbes, Orange and Bathurst.
“We’re thrilled that Sam Webb will be back to speak at Broken Hill,” Ms Callegher said.
“He is committed to helping people and organisations understand the importance of mental health and making wellness a priority.
“We think the community will gain a lot from his talk.”
Representatives from mental health support providers at Broken Hill will also be at the event for community members to meet and talk to.
“The mental health expo is a great chance to access a range of resources to focus on an area of health that can often be overlooked,” Ms Callegher said.
“Mental health as an issue is growing in communities, especially in young people and it is an area of concern.
“This event is so important to increasing the community’s knowledge and understanding, and its capacity to support people’s well-being.”
The Broken Hill Mental Health Expo will be held at the Broken Hill Entertainment Centre on November 8 from 11am to 2pm.
It is free to attend, but people are asked to register through Eventbrite

Separating and separated families in far-western NSW will soon have a specialist centre for supervised, safe visits of children and changeovers to take place, delivered by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes.
The social support organisation has received $2 million in federal government funding over four years to establish a Children’s Contact Service (CCS) at Broken Hill for the first time.
With the child’s needs as the primary focus, the centre’s purpose is to allow children to stay connected with both parents and other significant people in their lives, in circumstances where families are unable to manage their own contact arrangements.
Children’s Contact Services currently operate in more than 60 locations across Australia, but the nearest to Broken Hill is Mildura, a three-hour drive away.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes pursued the funding for a CCS at Broken Hill to meet a need in the community, with the city’s social and legal services long advocating for this type of service.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes’s funding application included letters of support from members of the local community, including legal practitioners.
The organisation’s local staff report there are families currently going to public places like fast-food outlets, parks, police stations and neighbourhood streets for the changeover of children for whom a joint custody arrangement is in place, because of the lack of a more appropriate option – an issue the CCS will address.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said the funding to establish the CCS at Broken Hill was a win for far-western NSW communities.
“This service has not existed previously at Broken Hill, a regional city,” Ms Mioche said.
“Its purpose is to provide children with the opportunity of re-establishing or maintaining a meaningful relationship with both parents, and other significant people in their lives.
“Most importantly it is a child-centred service, and their needs are the primary consideration.”
Ms Mioche says CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes already offers a number of programs at Broken Hill and is well-placed to deliver the service.
“Our unique position is the wraparound support we can provide through our family mental health and financial counselling programs and our family dispute resolution practitioner at Broken Hill,” she said.
The CCS will be based at the Broken Hill branch of CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, in Argent Street.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes went through an open competitive process to apply for the funding under the Family Relationship Services Program, administered by the federal Attorney-General’s Department.

Aboriginal people in western NSW seeking to build up their financial well-being and security need not do it alone.</p> <p>CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes (CCWF) is ready to help…

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes (CCWF) has opened a hairdressing salon at Wilcannia, bringing a much-needed service to the outback community.
Called Cooee Cuts, it’s operating as a social enterprise to fill a gap.
The salon welcomed its first customers on September 6-8, and will operate three days a month, with its next opening set for October 10-12.
CCWF, which offers social and support services to 52 per cent of NSW, has made the project a priority.
It has partnered with Mildura-based hairdresser – and former Wilcannia resident – Juliann Mutch to deliver the professional and affordable service.
Wilcannia has a population of 745 people, more than 60 per cent of whom are Indigenous, the 2016 Census shows, and nearest service centre Broken Hill is a four-hour round trip away.
CCWF chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said the organisation was pleased to launch its latest social enterprise at Wilcannia.
“Like our Cooee social enterprise cafes, Cooee Cuts is an investment in a small and remote community,” she said.
“This is about more than a new hairstyle, it’s how it makes you feel on the inside and Wilcannia residents should not miss out on that.”
CCWF social enterprise and community engagement manager Michael McDowell says community members are already embracing the salon.
“The smiles and laughter on the first day said it all,” he said.
“In our first week we had a client who hadn’t been in a hairdresser’s chair for 13 years.”
Mr McDowell says Ms Mutch has a special connection to Wilcannia and that’s why she is getting behind the initiative.
“She worked in Wilcannia years ago, and her heart is in this,” he said.
Cooee Cuts is co-located with Cooee for Coffee Wilcannia.
The salon will offer reduced-price haircuts at its October opening, with kids’ and men’s haircuts for $10, ladies’ pamper package of wash, cut and straightening for $20, ladies’ cut and colour for $60, and other services with consultation and quote.

Kerry Willems hasn’t forgotten the despair she felt at being homeless, even after three years in secure accommodation.
The woman who now lives and works in Forbes unexpectedly found herself sleeping in her car, with no money to buy food, no clothes, no facilities for personal hygiene, and “the absolutely intoxicating fear of being alone”.
“That’s when I realised the struggles, despair, the isolation of homelessness,” Ms Willems said.
In her plight Ms Willems found support from CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and other organisations, which enabled her to regain employment and then a private rental property.
She shared her painful experience recently at a Homelessness Week event at Forbes hosted by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes to raise awareness of the issue.
“Those days are now gone for me, but they will never be forgotten,” Ms Willems said in a speech at the event on August 2.
“It is still very real and can happen to any one of us at any time.”
Before she became homeless, Ms Willems had always been employed, and even owned a successful florist business in Sydney for a time.
Her experience is not uncommon – the number of homeless people aged 55 years and above increased by 28 per cent between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.
Ms Willems is particularly concerned about the rates of homelessness among women in the age bracket.
“I was once one of those statistics,” she said.
Through CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, Ms Willems received accommodation in the women’s refuge, and it was there she “finally saw the light starting to shine again”.
With support from the organisation’s team members, Ms Willems was able to regain employment.
“Once I was employed, I was then able to start applying for private rental properties,” she said.
“I have now been employed for three years with Woolworths and in my safe little home.”
Ms Willems says to be able to share her story means the world to her.
“Sadly, so many people do not have the strength and the courage to get where I am today,” she said.
“I fought my homelessness and won.”

Demand for the homelessness services of CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has jumped in the past year, as wider sections of the community struggle to find safe and sustainable accommodation.
Employed people now make up 10 per cent of the people seeking CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes housing assistance, higher than previously.
The number of clients aged 50 or more sweIled from 70 to 105 in 12 months.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes released the data as it prepares to host a webinar bringing together a panel of local experts in the homelessness field to raise awareness of the issue in western NSW on August 3.
National residential property rental vacancy rates remained as low as 1 per cent in June 2022, figures from SQM Research show.
On the local level, in the year ending June 30 the Forbes-Parkes homelessness service of CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes assisted 720 people, a 6 per cent increase.
Eviction and other forms of housing crisis overtook domestic violence as the leading reason for people needing its help in the two towns, CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Safe Home Portfolio manager Andrew Bament reports.
It rose by a substantial 9 per cent to account for 38 per cent of people seeking services.
At Bourke, total demand for assistance jumped by 13 per cent in the past three months.
Mr Bament says homelessness is a “hidden issue” in western NSW because outside capital cities it often takes the forms of couch-surfing and over-crowding of dwellings, instead of the more visible rough sleeping.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes will host the ‘Homelessness – A Regional Perspective’ webinar at 2pm on August 3, during Homelessness Week.
Community members are invited to join the event via Zoom to hear from a panel of local experts about homelessness, trends in housing availability, barriers to safe and sustainable accommodation and ideas towards solutions that may help end homelessness.