It takes a whole community to help people recover after sexual violence.
That's why, this February, SASVic is inviting all of those who work with survivors of sexual violence anywhere in our society for a hands-on exploration of effective recovery after sexual violence.
We'll draw on the latest research, best practice and innovative approaches in action, with a focus on real accessibility for people with disability. We'll hear from experts both from the specialist sexual assault sector and other sectors and areas. Together, we can explore what survivors value beyond one-to-one therapy and how justice, advocacy and non-traditional therapies can be a powerful part of someone's recovery.
Join us on 19 February at the Pan Pacific Conference Centre to learn how we can collectivise recovery in Victoria.
"What everyone just wants to do is healing. To achieve that, it's not just on women...it's on the system and educating men as well" - Survivor, research participant
Useful links for event attendees, including The REACH Project, SASVic’s Campaign, Making Rights Reality and more: https://linktr.ee/sasvicsymposium
Event Program
9am arrival for tea and coffee
9.30am Opening Plenary
Recovery after sexual violence: What does the research tell us?
Join Dr Bree Weizenegger, followed by Jen Hargrave & Dr Mandy McKenzie to talk about what sexual violence research tells us about recovery.
In her presentation “What do you do that’s so special anyway?”: An examination of change in feminist-informed, sexual assault counselling, Dr Weizenegger will present the findings from her PHD research conducted at CASA House and Northern CASA, which investigated what aspects of feminist-informed counselling cause change for victim survivors when they access specialist sexual assault services in Victoria.
We will also be joined by Jen Hargrave and Dr Mandy McKenzie for, Collectivising recovery: survivor perspectives on what promotes recovery after sexual violence, where they will present findings from the REACH Project, a collaboration between SASVic, University of Melbourne and Women with Disabilities Victoria.
Bree, Jen and Mandy will be followed by a panel discussion on supporting recovery after sexual violence for people with disability, with expert speakers:
Alisha Gilliland, Manager, EmpowerED, Gippsland CASA
Skye de Vent, Peer educator, EmpowerED, Gippsland CASA
Sisi Zhang, Practice lead, Making Rights Reality, South Eastern CASA
Bryanna Paynter-Harvie, Peer educator, EmpowerED, Gippsland CASA
Renee Rainbow, Program service delivery coordinator, EmpowerED, Gippsland CASA
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Dr Bree Weizenegger
Bree is a social-work trained psychotherapist who has worked primarily within the women's health and sexual violence sectors over the last twenty years. Bree currently works in private practice utilising a trauma-informed, feminist frame, providing psychotherapy and counselling to trauma survivors, and offers supervision and secondary consultations to mental health practitioners, researchers, and legal practitioners. Bree was awarded her PhD in 2022 for original research examining the mechanisms of change in feminist-informed sexual assault counselling as conducted at the Centres Against Sexual Assault in Victoria, Australia.Jen Hargrave
Jen has been a Community Researcher in many projects investigating violence prevention and prevalence, and she was a member of the REACH team who investigated recovery. In previous roles, Jen has worked in University student equity and headed Policy at Women with Disabilities Victoria. Jen sits on the Victorian Disability Advisory Council, and provides presentations on disability inclusion.Dr Mandy McKenzie
Mandy is a research fellow in the Sexual Abuse and Family Violence (SAFE) team at the Department of General Practice & Primary Care. She specialises in qualitative research on intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Her research draws on her 20 years of experience working for Victorian domestic violence, sexual assault and women’s health services as a social worker and in research/communications roles. Her current research projects at the University explore reproductive coercion and women’s recovery and helpseeking after intimate partner/sexual violence. Her previous research projects in women's/community organisations include a study of legal responses to domestic homicide, friends' responses to young women experiencing dating violence, bystander programs to prevent violence, and community perceptions of gender in advertising.
Panellists
Skye de Vent
Skye de Vent is a Peer Educator and has been involved with EmpowerED in its previous iterations since 2017. Skye was recruited in 2022 when they moved back to Gippsland and has been working for Gippsland Centre Against Sexual Assault (GCASA) since then. Skye has become more interested in the education side of their role so is working toward gaining a qualification in adult education. Skye has a music degree and has played music for a long time. Skye is a singer and plays trumpet and has piano skills. Skye is learning recorder and the ocarina. Skye is paralysed on the right side of their body and is totally blind. All of these accomplishments, Skye has done with one hand. Skye is also a proud member of the rainbow community.Bryanna Paynter-Harvie
Bryanna is a Peer Educator in the EmpowerED Program and has been in this role since June of 2023. As a passionate advocate, they are committed to using the experiences from their intersectional background to chip away at systemic barriers and amplify the voices of those in vulnerable communities. They are a proud neurodivergent member of the LGBTQIA+ community living with disability who understands first-hand the challenges faced by individuals at the intersection of multiple identities. They take great pride in both learning and unlearning from others, allowing them to continuously grow through each new experience.Sisi Zhang
Sisi Zhang is the Practice Lead of Making Rights Reality Program at South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault And Family Violence (SECASA). The program has a primary focus on resourcing SECASA Counsellor Advocates to provide an inclusive and accessible counselling and advocacy service for victim/survivors with disabilities, and in particular those with complex communication needs or cognitive impairment. Prior to her Practice Lead role, Sisi worked as a counsellor advocate at SECASA for a number of years.Renee Rainbow
Renee Rainbow is the Program Service Delivery Coordinator of the EmpowerED program at GCASA. Renee has been with GCASA since 2022 as an After Hours Crisis Care Counsellor Advocate as well as spending a year as an Intake Counsellor Advocate. Renee holds a Bachelor degree in Counselling and has a Certificate in Community Services. Additionally, Renee has worked as a Senior Support Worker and has volunteered her time with young people in Gippsland in various roles for over a decade. Renee is a proud Mum of 3 wonderful and chaotic children. She loves the bush, finding fungi to take photos of, colour, being in or around water and seeing live music. Renee is passionate about her work & supporting people with a disability to live a full and empowered life.
11.25am Morning tea followed by concurrent sessions
11.50am Session two
No recovery without justice: Advocacy, compensation and Justice Navigators
Room: Woodside 1.
Participants of our recent recovery research (The REACH Project) emphasised that survivors are not solely responsible for recovery; perpetrators need to be held to account and the community has a critical role to play in addressing the harm of sexual violence. However, the current legal and justice system instead compounds the harm, making recovery more difficult. Join SASVic’s Dr Amy Webster, Jacqui Bell and Holly Duffy, alongside Lived Experience Advocate Cathy Oddie and Hootville Communication’s Brett de Hoedt in exploring how justice, advocacy, compensation and the new Justice Navigators pilot program can play an important part in recovery for survivors.
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Dr Amy Webster
Amy is a researcher, writer and evaluator with a PhD in government-community sector relations. Starting out as a refuge worker and counsellor-advocate, Amy has researched and co-authored papers on a wide range of topics related to women’s health, gender equity and sexual violence. In 2018 Amy led the design and establishment of Victoria’s dedicated sexual and reproductive health information service, 1800 My Options. Amy has been the Manager of Policy, Advocacy and Research at Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) since 2022.Jacqui Bell
Jacqui is Legal Policy Manager at SASVic. Her work focuses on progressing policy and law reform proposals that improve justice system rights and experiences of sexual assault victim survivors. Jacqui has previously worked as a lawyer in private practice and as a systemic advocate in the community legal sector and in tobacco control and alcohol policy.Cathy Oddie
Cathy has worked across several sectors including Centrelink, Superannuation, Mental Health, Emergency Services and Family Violence. This cross-sector experience, as well as her own lived experience of domestic abuse and sexual violence, has given her a unique insight into the many challenges faced by people experiencing complex life circumstances whilst navigating the support and justice systems for assistance. As a result of her lived experience advocacy, she was called to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015. Her evidence resulted in two of the final recommendations, one of which led to the Review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act. Cathy has subsequently given evidence at the Inquiry into Victoria's Criminal Justice System in 2021 and at the Parliamentary Joint Committee: Inquiry into Financial Services Regulatory Framework in Relation to Financial Abuse in 2024. Cathy was appointed to the Department of Justice and Community Safety’s Victim of Crime Consultative Committee as a Victim Representative in 2020. In addition to this appointment, she joined Victoria Legal Aid's "Specialist Family Violence Court Project" Steering Committee and their “Legal Services in the Orange Door Project” as a Family Violence Lived Experience Consultant. She was also on the working group which co-designed the new Victim’s Legal Service. Cathy has previously worked as a Specialist Family Violence Practitioner with Berry Street and as a Senior Family Violence Practitioner with Goulburn Orange Door. She is currently employed as a research assistant on three different sexual violence projects with La Trobe University. In 2024, Cathy was appointed to the Adult Parole Board as a Community Member and to the Victim of Crime Commissioner’s Lived Experience Experts’ Network. Cathy is passionately committed to the healing, recovery and financial wellbeing of victim-survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence and other crimes.Brett de Hoedt
Brett is a former journalist who now heads Hootville Communications which assists not-for-profit organisations to campaign on complex issues including climate change, disability employment and voluntary assisted dying. He is also the media advisor for SASVic. Twenty-five years and 1000 clients into the PR game, Brett knows that there is no issue too niche nor too 'unsexy' for the right media.Holly Duffy
Holly is the Communications and Campaigns Team Leader at SASVic. As part of her role at SASVic, she campaigns for the urgent change needed on sexual violence. In the past, she has worked in the community and university sectors in communication and fundraising roles.
Connecting with other survivors can reduce feelings of isolation and shame, and help normalise their experiences. Peer-led group programs are particularly important for survivors who face discrimination, such as survivors with disability, because the group programs allow them to build a sense of solidarity and recognition of shared oppression. In this session, we’ll hear from specialist sexual assault services about groupwork frameworks and foundations.
11.50am Session three
Groupwork session 1: Empowering models and methods
Room: Woodside 2
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Maria Papadontas
Maria Papadontas is an experienced social worker with a Masters in Criminology and over 28 years of experience in the allied health and welfare sectors. She has worked extensively with survivors of complex and developmental trauma, including victim survivors of sexual and family violence, individuals involved in the criminal justice system, those with extensive offending histories, intergenerational trauma, substance abuse issues, homelessness, mental health challenges, sexual exploitation, and child abuse.Maria is currently the Service Design and Improvement Manager at SASVic, where she plays a key role in enhancing service delivery and systemic responses to trauma. In addition to her leadership role, she operates a private practice as a Somatic Trauma Counsellor and yoga teacher. She is also committed to supporting the next generation of social workers by providing professional supervision to students at Deakin University and Victoria University.
Amanda Parkinson
Amanda is currently employed as a Manager of South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA) at Monash Health, offering therapeutic service for those who have experienced any form of sexual violence and/or family violence. She is responsible for the clinical operation of the therapeutic programs offered by SECASA including the Adult program and SE CASA Intake and Brief Treatment Team. This includes being responsible for the management of over 45 social workers/ psychologists. In this role, her focus is driving and improving practice, increasing professional accountability and ensuring the development of evidence-based practice around trauma response. She is particularly passionate about identifying clients most at risk due to their vulnerability or their isolation and providing an individualised service to meet need. She is a social worker with over 13 years of experience in Child Protection, Mental Health and Trauma Services.Imogen ONeil
Imogen is Manager of Therapeutic Services at the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre.
11.50am Session four
Recovery-focused approaches to addressing child sexual exploitation
Room: Woodside 3
In this session, our panel speakers will use case studies to deepen our understanding of child sexual exploitation and explore issues like, barriers to accessing support, how perpetrators can be held to account or disrupted, and the over-representation of child sexual exploitation against Aboriginal kids.
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Aaron Wallace-Peters
Aaron Wallace-Peters is the State-wide Principal Practitioner of the Victorian Aboriginal Child & Community Agency in Victoria Australia. Aaron is a Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta man who has worked in the child and family welfare space for 11 years. He has held senior roles within the ACCO sector as a CEO and Director in the Aboriginal Children Aboriginal Care and Statutory child safety space. Aaron has worked at a senior level within Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and is a passionate advocate for the safety and self-determination of Aboriginal children and their families.Clare McCrumlish
Clare is the Principal Practice Advisor - Child Sexual Exploitation in the CSE Response Team at the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.Professor Michael Salter
Professor Michael Salter is the Director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at the University of New South Wales. He is an internationally recognised expert in child sexual exploitation, complex trauma and gendered violence. Professor Salter is Chair of the Grace Tame Foundation and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. Professor Salter is a member of a number of advisory groups, including the Advisory Group of the National Plan To Prevent Violence Against Women and Their Children, the Expert Advisory Group of the eSafety Commissioner, and the Expert Advisory Committee of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.Emily Cross-O’Grady
Emily is the senior clinician for the child sexual exploitation program at Gatehouse Sexual Assault Service at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Emily is a social worker and has worked across the community and public sectors with a keen interest in the impact and recovery of developmental trauma on young people.Rebecca O’Donnell
Rebecca is a Senior Counsellor Advocate at Eastern CASA.Facilitated by Carla Collins
Carla is Manager of Gatehouse Sexual Assault Service and a Board member of SASVic. Carla has a background in leadership at sexual assault services at Monash Health, statutory child protection and in safeguarding at the Children’s Commission in NSW. Carla has also worked internationally in Child Rights and Child Protection in development and emergency settings, including UNICEF and World Vision, and has a Masters in Public and International Law.
11.50am Session five
Reframing trauma in the aftermath of sexual violence: Survivor experiences of coping, empowerment, and recovery
A deep dive with Professor Anastasia Powell
Room: Woodside 4
Trauma has had a resurgence in policy and programs around the world. From trauma-aware, to trauma-informed, and trauma-responsive, there has been a renewed focus on how our various systems of policing, justice and recovery can better respond to the traumatic experiences of survivors of violence. Yet the ways that trauma is understood and applied in many of these responses, remains within a medicalised and individually-focused model. In this presentation, Anastasia will discuss some of the unintended consequences of such framings of trauma. Drawing on interviews with victim survivors of sexual violence, she will explore the utility of a multidimensional framing of trauma, as well as the ongoing importance of empowerment approaches to long-term recovery.
Professor Anastasia Powell is a criminologist with over 20 years experience in prevention, policy and practice reform addressing both sexual and family violence. She has previously worked in policy roles for the Department of Justice and Community Safety (State Government of Victoria), and has undertaken numerous commissioned research projects for government and non-government agencies to inform policy and practice reform. Since 2016, Anastasia has served on the board of directors of Our Watch, Australia's national organisation for the prevention of violence against women. She is author or co-author of over 100 scholarly works including the books: The Palgrave Handbook on Gendered Violence and Technology (2021), Sexual Violence in a Digital Age (2017), and Sex, Power and Consent (2010). Anastasia brings together evidence-based expertise, as well as her own lived experiences of sexual and family violence, to her research, teaching and advocacy work.
1.05pm Lunch followed by concurrent sessions
1.50pm Session six
How do we know it’s working? Evaluations and outcome frameworks
Room: Woodside 1
In session six we’ll hear about how different specialist sexual assault services are approaching evaluation and outcome frameworks, including presentations from Lauren Famulari from the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre (SAFVC) and Shureeka Alves from Kids First.
Lauren will be sharing SAFVC’s journey in developing, implementing and embedding an organisational understanding of their programs and services. She will talk about their plans for the future and how capturing client stories provides an opportunity to develop a collective narrative to advocate for change and give voice to those that need to be heard.
Shureeka will present the Outcomes Framework for young people who engage in harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), developed at Kids First Australia. Drawing on current research and best practices, her presentation will explore evidence-informed approaches to assessment, intervention and long-term impact. She will be joined by Karla Dubaniewicz to discuss Kids First’s ongoing research collaboration with Swinburne University, including its theoretical foundations, impact and future directions.
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Lauren Famulari
Lauren is a leader dedicated to creating impactful, sustainable change in the sector and improving responses to sexual and family violence. Lauren is the Executive Manager of Impact & Engagement at The Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre (The SAFV Centre), with over 16 years of experience in the community sector, specialising in sexual and family violence. Lauren has experience in roles across all aspects of the sexual and family violence sector including working directly with clients as a Counsellor Advocate, leading early intervention teams focusing on access and support coordination pathways, advising on organisational and sector strategy and reform and establishing the evidence and strategic advisory function within The SAFV Centre. In her current Executive role, Lauren’s functional accountabilities encompass primary prevention, evidence, advocacy, training and communications. Lauren leads a range of strategic initiatives that improve outcomes and advocate for systemic change. Lauren leads the organisations commitment to enhancing its evidence-based decision-making processes, leveraging data, research, and evaluation to enhance service delivery and evidence-based advocacy. This has included leading the development and implementation of The SAFV Centre’s first Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Framework. Through her work leading The SAFV Centre’s training and primary prevention programs, The SAFV Centre builds professional and community capability to effectively prevent and respond to sexual and family violence. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Social Work and a Juris Doctor, enabling a her to blend trauma-informed practice with legal insight to navigate the complexities of the sector.Shureeka Alves
Shureeka is an accomplished therapeutic clinician, currently serving as Manager of Therapeutic Services at Kids First Australia. In this role she leads a team of counsellors, ensuring the delivery of high-quality therapeutic interventions for victims of sexual abuse and those displaying harmful sexual behaviours, and their families. With more than a decade of experience, Shureeka has been instrumental in overseeing, managing and developing innovative programs to enhance holistic service delivery. Alongside her role, she was recently seconded part time to Sexual Assault Services Victoria, helping to implement innovations to engage and manage clients on sexual assault service waitlists. Prior to Kids First, Shureeka worked in specialist children’s case management and started her career as a Residential Care Worker at MacKillop Family Services.Karla Dubaniewicz
Karla Dubaniewicz is a dedicated and highly skilled professional with extensive experience in working with children who have been sexually abused, have engaged in harmful sexual behaviours, or who have experienced trauma more broadly. Karla is currently pursuing a Doctor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology at The Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University. Her doctoral thesis will evaluate the Kids First’s outcomes framework related to clients who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour. Previously, Karla was the Team Leader for the Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program at Kids First Australia, where she provided clinical and operational supervision to a team of clinicians, developed training packages, and delivered expert consultations to support children and young people affected by sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviours. She also provided direct assessment and intervention for children, young people, and their families dealing with sexual abuse and trauma more broadly. She currently has moved into the adult offending space and serves as a Caring Dads Facilitator at Kids First Australia, where she leads a 17-week program for men who have committed family violence, helping them end violent and/or neglectful behaviours and improve their relationship with their children. She is also currently completing student placements within Forensicare where she is working in forensic mental health. Karla's dedication to working with young people and adults who have experienced trauma or who have engaged in problem behaviour is evident in her experience in practice and research, her leadership in clinical settings, and her passion for continuous learning.
1.50pm Session seven
Beyond ‘one on one’ counselling: Innovative approaches that facilitate recovery
Room: Woodside 3
In this session, we’ll be explore innovative approaches that facilitate recovery after sexual violence with our exciting speakers, Professor Jayashri Kulkarni from Monash University, Dr Sharonne Zaks AM of Sharonne Zaks Dental, Jess Moretti from Uniting AOD and Mental Health and Tama Green, Equine Assisted Learning Practitioner, with a special guest appearance from Ghost the pony!
It is not uncommon for alcohol and other drugs to be used as a coping mechanism to manage painful post-traumatic symptoms associated with sexual abuse and violence. In her presentation, Sexual Violence and Substance Use: A Harm Reduction Approach to Recovery, Jess will explore the complex relationship between AOD use and sexual violence, and discuss the benefits of using a harm reduction approach to recovery.
Dr Sharonne Zaks AM will present on why survivors of sexual assault struggle with dental visits and their oral health. From there, she’ll explore how trauma-informed dental care can facilitate recovery after sexual assault, in particular the significance of oral health for survivors, and the power for the dental relationships to transform their lives. Concluding the presentation, Sharonne will talk about her practice and the social enterprise trauma-informed dental service I’m currently setting up for survivors of trauma, and for anyone who suffers from dental anxiety and phobia.
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Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM
Jayashri graduated in Medicine from Monash University in 1981 and became a Fellow of the College of Psychiatrists in 1988. Jayashri commenced her appointment as Professor of Psychiatry at The Alfred and Monash University in 2002. Professor Kulkarni founded and directs two research centres – HER Centre Australia and the Multidisciplinary Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc). She is also Head of the Department of Psychiatry, School of Translational Medicine (STM), Monash University -Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences. She has conducted ground-breaking clinical research and is internationally acknowledged as a leader and expert in the field of Women’s Mental Health, in particular, for her innovative work on reproductive hormones and mental illness. Her world-first research in hormones and mental health has led to the development of new treatments for women with mental ill health. She developed and launched Australia’s first women’s mental health hospital at Cabrini Health in September 2021. Jayashri received an Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for her services to Medicine. In 2024, she received 2 prestigious awards from The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) : the Ian Simpson Award for “the most outstanding contributions to clinical psychiatry through service to patients and the community” and the RANZCP Senior Research Award, for “the most significant contribution to psychiatric research in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand over the preceding five years”.Tama Green
Tama is a passionate professional with a diverse range of qualifications and experiences in the fields of community services, youth work, trauma-informed practice, and animal-assisted therapies. She possesses extensive expertise in horse behaviour, horse management, equine-assisted learning, and is recognized as an equine specialist and therapy dog handler. At her property in Far East Gippsland, she works with her herd of 10 horses providing Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) to various populations, including young people in residential care, individuals of all ages facing mental health challenges, and those in the juvenile justice system.Dr Sharonne Zaks AM
Sharonne has 25 years of experience in private dental practice, with a special interest in working with anxious and phobic patients, and survivors of sexual assault and trauma, who travel from all over Australia to see her. The compassionate approach she has developed incorporates the trauma-informed principles, her clinical experience, and her ongoing research into dental anxiety, phobia, and trauma. It benefits patients, clinicians, and staff, and is being taught locally and internationally, most recently in her role as a senior lecturer at Melbourne University. In 2018 Sharonne collaborated with South-Eastern CASA to create free video resources for dentists and survivors of sexual assault. These are now being used by organisations, health professionals, and survivors around the world. Sharonne is passionate about improving the experience of health care for all. She presented to over 5,000 people at TEDx Sydney, at the Australian and World Dental Congresses amongst many others, and most recently, at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Sharonne’s groundbreaking work has attracted global media attention, with interviews by the ABC, BBC, SBS, The Age, and many others. Her work has also been featured in a book, distributed globally, with another one on the way. Sharonne’s contribution to the dental profession has been recognised with two prestigious international fellowships, the ADA Dentistry Achievement award, and most recently, her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia for her ‘significant service to dentistry and to the arts’.Jess Moretti
Jess is a Specialist Family Violence Advisor at Uniting AOD and Mental Health. She is a social worker and community development practitioner who has spent the last ten years working across a range of public treatment services within the Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector. Jess has a special interest in working at the intersections of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) and substance use. She has been involved in a number of government funded initiatives that seek to address systems barriers faced by women and gender-diverse people who use substances.
1.50pm Session eight
Collectivising Recovery: Innovative groupwork programs
Room: Woodside 2
In this session, we’ll be exploring the innovative groups that are supporting survivors to recover, including CASACV’s Art from the Heart group program, Left Write Hook and Centre of Advancing Women’s group programs.
We’re excited to be joined by Mette Hotker and Sarah Kamoen from CASA Central Victoria (CASACV) for their presentation Art for the Heart: Using Creativity and Collaboration to Support Young Women’s Recovery. Art from the Heart is an art therapy-based group program created by CASACV and co-facilitated with Headspace Bendigo to support young women (15-18) dealing with anxiety and depression. Using the power of art therapy activities, the program offers a safe and welcoming space for young women to express themselves, build confidence and connect with others. This session dives into how the partnership between CASACV and Headspace brought this unique program to life. In the presentation, they will share the journey of developing this innovative group program, why art therapy works so well for young people, and the incredible potential of services working together.
We’ll also learn all about Left Write Hook: A survivor-designed and survivor-led program from Dr Caitlin Hitchcock and Dr Donna Lyon. Left Write Hook empowers adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse or other endered violence to reclaim their bodies and rewrite their stories. The program incorporates both writing and non-contact, trauma-informed boxing!
We’re also looking forward to hearing about Centre of Advancing Women’s (COAW) approach from Samia Baho, CEO and Founder of COAW.
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Mette Hotker (CASACV)
Mette is the Research, Education and Projects Manager at CASA Central Victoria (CASA CV). Her work is dedicated to developing and implementing best practice approaches for CASACV projects and programs for impactful and evidence-based outcomes.Sarah Kamoen (CASACV)
Sarah is a Counsellor Advocate at CASA Central Victoria and a qualified art therapist. She integrates the transformative power of art therapy into her practice, supporting individuals on their journey to healing and recovery.Samia Baho OAM
Samia is the Founder & Managing Director, Centre of Advancing Women. She is a passionate advocate for human rights, social justice, and gender equality, dedicated to empowering refugee communities across Victoria. Samia has led impactful advocacy initiatives, driving law reform, system changes, and gender equality for women from humanitarian backgrounds. A leader in justice reform and gender rights, Samia pioneered the Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP), influencing policies and attitudes toward women’s reproductive and sexual health. She has worked extensively across government, legal, health, and research sectors, building sustainable pathways for community engagement and systemic change. As the Founder and Managing Director of the Centre of Advancing Women (COAW), she is deeply committed to assisting disadvantaged women who are victims of family and sexual assault, particularly those who fall through the cracks of the system. Her advocacy ensures that vulnerable women receive the support, protection, and resources they need to rebuild their lives. Her commitment to education and employment pathways has helped refugee women re-enter training, pursue further education, and gain employment. She has developed large-scale staff training programs ensuring culturally responsive training and service delivery. With a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, a Postgraduate Diploma, and a Master’s in Women’s Health from the University of Melbourne, Samia continues to lead efforts to bridge gaps between refugee communities and mainstream services, ensuring equity, inclusion, and lasting social impact.Professor Caitlin Hitchcock (Left Write Hook)
Professor Hitchcock is a clinical psychologist with clinical and research expertise in trauma-related mental health. Her work aims to improve treatment, by developing new treatment options and working closely with Australian and international services to ensure that the latest research is used to increase access to evidence-based treatment in underserved communities.Dr Donna Lyon (Left Write Hook)
Donna is a creative practice researcher, filmmaker, and survivor-advocate dedicated to trauma-informed storytelling. As the founder and CEO of Left Write Hook, she combines writing and boxing to support victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse and gendered violence. Donna is producer of the award-winning Left Write Hook documentary and currently co-leads a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) randomised control trial at the University of Melbourne. Through research, filmmaking, and advocacy, she amplifies lived/living experience voices, challenging stigma and redefining trauma recovery through creativity, movement, and community.