Newcastle domestic, family and sexual violence and homelessness support service, Jenny’s Place, celebrated the Grand Opening of its new central service office site in Warabrook on Tuesday 21 July 2026.
Jenny’s Place CEO, Dawn Walker, said, “The move to Warabrook breaks the long-held misconception that services like ours need to be based in the city in cramped, poorly maintained tenancies that are increasingly unaffordable for our sector.”
“Decades of data supported the fact that most of our clients reside closer to Warabrook than to the inner city. Transport links to Warabrook are good, including regular bus and tram routes within a five-minute walking distance of our new site. Along with the new Jenny’s Place Community Transport program, we have permanently removed the transport barrier that many of our clients are faced with, regardless of where they live.”
“This site reframes what trauma-informed space looks like in the domestic violence and homelessness sector, representing a milestone transformation in the service setting for Jenny’s Place. Through this project, we have achieved a revolution in our work environment, because for almost five decades our core services had been housed in cramped, often run-down, less-than-ideal office spaces.”
Ms Walker added that the innovative new floor plan was painstakingly designed via a collaboration between Jenny’s Place, Architects Without Frontiers and Hayball Architects. These two organisations took the CEO’s brief and provided pro-bono specialist expertise to help create a trauma-led blueprint of seamless and intuitive spaces in which Jenny’s Place can deliver its vital domestic violence and homelessness services. Offering double the floor space, the client rooms and staff areas are now completely separated, enabling privacy and a psychologically safe environment for workers and for some of the most vulnerable women and children in our community.
The first-of-its-kind ‘Mum and Bubs’ room weaves together a relaxed living and dining space where mothers can meet with their caseworker or psychologist, adjacent to a fully visible children’s playroom where their children can attend play therapy, speech and occupational therapy. This conjoined space creates the perfect blueprint for the further development of the Jenny’s Place Specialist Centre for Domestic Violence Support which, when fully implemented, will be the first specialist support centre of its kind in NSW.
Flooded with light, blue sky and greenery, the $650,000 development was funded from far and wide across our city, through several grants and via the support and understanding of key community stakeholders. The construction and fit-out itself was funded by The Wests Group, The Office of Responsible Gambling, and Wallsend Diggers. Furnishings in the rooms were provided through the kindness and generosity of private individual benefactors and community members. Compassion Australia helped make this tenancy possible by providing the surety of a long-term lease at significantly reduced rental rates to ensure that the lease would fit the limited Jenny’s Place rental budget. Insight Building Services was selected to bring the vision to life and provided excellent support throughout the timely and accurate construction.
Finally, Ms Walker added: “Every day I come to work and witness the extraordinary dedication and compassion of our caseworkers, who stand alongside women and children who have endured unthinkable trauma. Each day they listen, help problem-solve, advocate, and transform futures, working tirelessly to reduce risk and save lives. For almost five decades we have helped women and children redefine their destinies. We have instilled in them the determination to achieve a much better future for themselves and for their children.
“I realised it was time for Jenny’s Place to apply these philosophies to ourselves. This Warabrook site is no ordinary service space, it is a testament to what can be accomplished when you believe in yourself enough, when you reach far enough, and when you unashamedly ask the right people for help.”
The walls of the new premises are purposely adorned with colourful artwork, provided again through the generosity of individual community members. Ms Walker added, “These lovely frames were chosen to remind our clients and our staff that even on the darkest day, the world is still a beautiful place, if you really look at it.”
Jenny’s Place was founded in Newcastle in 1977 to support women and children impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence and homelessness. Today, Jenny’s Place delivers this support through crisis and transitional accommodation, homelessness outreach casework, Newcastle Domestic Violence Resources and specialist casework programs for children and young people.
