The Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre will be represented at a major national conference on recovery from domestic, family and sexual violence in April, with CEO Elise Phillips and Head of Impact and Lived Expertise Beth Woodstone announced as a facilitator and panelist respectively at the Recovery and Healing: Striving Together conference in Brisbane.
The event, hosted by the Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance, will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 30 April and 1 May 2026 and will bring together survivor advocates, practitioners, researchers and policymakers from across Australia.
Ms Phillips said the conference aims to promote discussion and learning about recovery from domestic, family and sexual violence.
It is also intended to give victim-survivors and practitioners a platform to detail needs, responses and effective models of healing, while highlighting the importance of long-term recovery support beyond crisis intervention.
“When victim-survivors are part of the conversation, services and policies start to reflect what actually helps people heal, not just what systems assume they need,” she said.
“Hearing those voices alongside practitioners and decision-makers is how real change happens.”
The program will be guided by the Alliance’s Four Pillars of Recovery: holistic models of health care, housing and economic recovery, responsive and accessible pathways to justice, and centring children and young people.
Drawing on her work at the Centre, Ms Woodstone will base her panel contributions on the service’s experience supporting women across the Illawarra, highlighting the realities of recovery, common barriers within systems and the elements that enable effective, survivor-informed responses.
Other speakers at the event include keynotes from Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, and Micaela Cronin, Australia’s first Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner.
Organisers are also seeking corporate partners, inviting organisations to support the event through sponsorship to help advance recovery and healing initiatives nationwide.
If your organisation is interested in supporting the event, contact Beth Woodstone at bethw@womenstrc.com.au