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 their 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
Prevention & Cultural Programs
Upcoming Events
If you are experiencing family violence and need support please call 1800DJIRRA (1800 354 772).
If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
We are on Instagram
Djirra congratulates Justice Louise Taylor on becoming the first Aboriginal woman in Australia to be appointed chief magistrate.
Proud Kamilaroi woman Justice Taylor made history in 2023 when she became the first Aboriginal woman to be appointed to a superior court by joining the ACT Supreme Court as resident judge.
She will take up her appointment as chief magistrate of the ACT Magistrates Court from May.
#AboriginalWomenHaveTheSolutions @antoinette_braybrook
On this 35th Anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, we again take a moment to reflect on the devastating realty for our people.
630 Aboriginal people have died in custody since the Royal Commission. This number continues to rise and we will never stop counting.
Last year saw the highest number of our people dying in custody since reporting began.
So far this year, there have been 43 deaths in custody. Devastatingly, almost 30% of these deaths are Aboriginal people despite our people making up only 3.8% of the country’s population. This is unacceptable.
For Aboriginal women, these statistics sit alongside other crises: family violence, over-policing, racial targeting, criminalisation and the removal of our children.
Aboriginal women are the fastest growing prison population in the country. Aboriginal women comprise around 3% of the Australia’s female population yet we make up close to 40% of the female prison population.
Of the Aboriginal women Djirra supports who have had contact with the criminal justice system:
• 100% have experienced family violence.
• 86% are mothers.
• The vast majority are misidentified, racially targeted, punished and blamed for the violence they experience.
These are not just statistics. These are Aboriginal women.
Aboriginal women do not belong in prison.
Aboriginal women and children deserve to be supported for their safety, not prosecuted.
The only way forward for ensuring Aboriginal women and their children remain safe and together, not torn apart, not thrown behind bars, is by investing in our individual and collective self-determined solutions.
Aboriginal women deserve an advocate.
Aboriginal women deserve access to Djirra’s life changing and life saving services and early intervention and prevention programs.
Share this post to stand with our women.
#RCIADIC #StopDeathsInCustody #AboriginalWomensLivesMatter @antoinette_braybrook
The countdown is on for Women Deliver 2026!
In less than two weeks, global changemakers will convene in Narrm for the world’s largest gender equality conference.
Djirra will amplify Aboriginal women’s voices on this global stage, sharing the truth of our experiences and the strength of our solutions to over six thousand people.
Djirra CEO @antoinette_braybrook AM is speaking at various points throughout the conference, including:
Wednesday 29 April, 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Plenary Session: “Building Economies that Deliver: Care, Public Services, and Shared Prosperity”
Thursday 30 April, 9:30 - 11:00 am
Djirra Panel: “Tackling systemic racism against First Nations women in Australia” with a strong panel of Aboriginal women, including Djirra staff Kelly Faldon and Monique Chong and Djirra ambassador @kirbybentley, together with Dr Hannah McGlade and Wynetta Dewis.
If you haven’t already registered to attend the Women Deliver conference, you can do so via our link in bio👆🏽
Stay tuned on our socials for more info!
#WD2026
@women_deliver
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to our Koori Women’s Place Easter Drive 🐰
Because of your generosity, Aboriginal women and their children were able to enjoy Easter goodies, including eggs, hot cross buns, colouring activities, and warm pyjamas and slippers.
In the lead-up to the school holidays, it meant a lot for families to have a little extra support and something special to share together. One mum was especially delighted to find matching pyjamas for her twins - those moments matter.
At Djirra, we walk alongside Aboriginal women through every stage of their journey - from safety and stability to healing, connection and wellbeing.
Sometimes that support is legal or practical. Other times, it’s about creating spaces where women and children feel seen, valued and celebrated. This Easter Drive is a beautiful reflection of the strength of community and the care we hold for one another.
If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at link in bio.
Thank you for walking alongside Aboriginal women and their children 🖤💛❤️
This morning Djirra will appear before the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into the heartbreaking connection between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide.
For Aboriginal women, this connection is too often overlooked, not recognised, and not investigated.
Aboriginal women already know family violence does not happen in isolation and neither does suicide risk.
Women’s physical and mental health is impacted by violence. For Aboriginal women, it is made worse by systemic racism and unsafe systems.
Aboriginal women are further adversely impacted and traumatised by:
• the removal of their children
• not being believed
• being targeted and misidentified as the primary aggressor
• racism in their own homes
These pressures compound.
Preventing suicide means investing in Aboriginal women’s self-determined solutions and intervening earlier.
Invest in Djirra’s specialist frontline services and early intervention prevention programs.
Listen to Djirra’s evidence at 10.30am today via link in bio.
#Djirra #AboriginalWomen #EndFamilyViolence #TruthTelling #Justice @Antoinette_Braybrook
Djirra’s offices are closed for Easter from Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April. We will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 7 April.
If you have an immediate concern for your safety, please call 000.
Support services are available during this time, including:
🖤 Safe Steps for family violence support (24/7): 1800 015 188
💛 Rainbow Door for LGBTIQ+SB community support (10am–5pm/7 days): 1800 729 367
❤️ Homelessness crisis support: 1800 825 955
💛 Sexual Assault Crisis Line (after hours): 1800 806 292
🖤 Crisis support & yarning services (24/7):
- Yarning Safe ’N’ Strong: 1800 959 563
- 13YARN: 13 92 76
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
Djirra commends @sueanne_hunter for her leadership in progressing legislation that increases the independence and powers of the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People.
Djirra CEO, @bntoinette_braybrook AM says, “This reform matters and it will make a real difference. It strengthens accountability and elevates a national voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. We look forward to working with Commissioner Hunter to see meaningful and long overdue change.”
We acknowledge and thank Sue-Anne for her continued commitment over the years to keep Aboriginal kids with their mums.
Ten years ago, the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence handed down its findings.
For Aboriginal women, it was a moment where our voices were finally recognised.
Where our demands to be seen and heard were acknowledged. For a moment, it felt like governments were listening.
Djirra received unprecedented investment into frontline services and early intervention and prevention programs.
Change felt possible. But ten years on, here is the truth.
In Victoria, Aboriginal women are still experiencing violence at vastly disproportionate rates. Our children are still being removed at rates not seen since white settlement. Our women are still being misidentified and criminalised for seeking safety.
And this is being driven and made worse by punitive and racist systems that continue to target Aboriginal women.
Let’s be clear.
Royal Commissions have an end date. Violence against Aboriginal women does not.
Ten years on, governments are still not investing at the level required in the specialist services that keep Aboriginal women safe, strong and alive and together with their children.
Funding ten years on does not match demand. It does not match what we see every day on the frontline.
Djirra has the solutions.
This is not new. Governments know.
But the response is the same. No increases. No CPI. Funding cuts. “Tight budgets.”
Women’s lives must mean more than this.
Djirra’s solutions are known. They are tried, tested, and trusted.
And still, not properly funded.
Aboriginal women are not just being ignored. We are being left exposed to violence.
Ten years on, we continue to call for urgent investment in our more than 20 year vision to establish an Aboriginal Women’s Centre in Victoria. Backed by the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
We call for investment that matches the scale of this crisis and meets the demand for our specialist services.
Investing in Djirra’s self-determined solutions will change the devastating reality for Aboriginal women in Victoria. Aboriginal women deserve better.
#AboriginalWomensLivesMatter #SelfDetermination
The Djirra team presented at the PreventX conference this week, an important national conference focused on preventing family and gender-based violence, hosted by @Safe_and_Equal 💜🩷🧡
Proud Wiradjuri woman and our Young Luv Coordinator, Leticia, shared the journey behind the redesign of Djirra’s Young Luv program.
Since 2015, Young Luv has supported young Aboriginal women to build healthy relationships through a workshop grounded in sistahood, empowerment and assertiveness.
Designed and delivered by Aboriginal women the program creates a culturally safe space for young Aboriginal women to learn, connect and grow.
During the session, Leticia and colleague Bel invited participants to follow the redesign journey – highlighting the importance of Aboriginal-led, culturally grounded approaches to program design, monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Young Luv is a powerful example of what works when Aboriginal women lead the solutions. The Federal Government must back this work through sustained investment in Aboriginal-led early intervention and prevention under ‘Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices’, the National Plan to End Violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children. 🖤💛❤️
To find out more about our programs, visit:
https://djirra.org.au/what-we-do/#prevention
#PreventX #YoungLuv #AboriginalLed #WeHaveTheSolutions #Djirra
