The NSW Multicultural Centre for Women’s and Family Safety, known as the Adira Centre, has completed its first year of operation with a statewide footprint and a growing reputation as a vital link in the domestic and family violence support system for multicultural communities.
Established in May 2024 with $4.4 million in funding from the Minns Labor Government, the Adira Centre was created in response to calls for culturally safe and linguistically accessible services tailored to women and children from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Although headquartered in south-west Sydney, the Centre’s reach extends across regional and metropolitan areas through its outreach and training programs.
Over the past year, the Adira Centre has run more than 50 information sessions on healthy relationships and domestic and family violence, drawing over 1,000 participants. Each session featured live interpretation across 15 languages, underlining the Centre’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion.
Beyond education, the Centre has provided direct assistance to hundreds of women and children facing or at risk of family violence. That support has taken many forms—casework, referrals, and counselling—delivered in over 20 languages.
The Centre has also worked to build capacity within both the family violence and settlement sectors. Thirteen workshops have been delivered to organisations seeking to better understand and respond to domestic violence in multicultural contexts. Additionally, community Learning Circles have enabled women from migrant and refugee backgrounds—often the first to respond when violence occurs—to engage with training, tools, and peer support networks.
Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper said the Centre has fulfilled its purpose. “At the opening of the Adira Centre one year ago, I said the Centre will ‘help deliver much needed services to our culturally and linguistically diverse communities in a manner that is accessible and respectful of their culture.’ That’s exactly what it has done,” he said.
Kamper described the Centre as part of a broader “whole of government” response to family violence in New South Wales, one that recognises the unique challenges experienced by victim-survivors from multicultural backgrounds and ensures services match those needs.
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison emphasised that language barriers, cultural stigma, and precarious visa status remain common deterrents for many women. “We know that women from migrant and refugee backgrounds are less likely to report violence or seek help… Over the past year, the Adira Centre has improved and increased access to information and support.”
Harrison pointed to the Centre’s dual role in providing both immediate support and long-term community education. “They’re also building the capacity of communities and organisations so that even more women and children from diverse backgrounds can access specialised, in-language and culturally safe services to support them,” she said.
Settlement Services International CEO Violet Roumeliotis called the Centre’s first year “a response to a critical gap” and one that has already reshaped support pathways across the state. “All women and children – no matter their language, cultural background or visa status – deserve to live free from violence,” she said. She described the Centre as a bridge between community, government and frontline services.
Director of the Adira Centre, Gulnara Abbasova, underlined the structural challenges faced by many migrant and refugee women. “Their experiences of violence are driven by expressions of gender inequality and other intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination, including racism, sexism, and the cultural and structural barriers that influence such experiences—and prevent women from seeking help.”
Abbasova said the Adira Centre acts as a resource for both the domestic violence and settlement sectors. “Our collaborative practice and sector capacity building are complemented by a strong focus on prevention and community education. In the past year, the Adira Centre has worked with multicultural communities across NSW to increase awareness and understanding of domestic and family violence and its drivers, and to promote healthy relationships.”
The NSW Government has made domestic and family violence prevention a core priority, with the state’s 2022–2027 Domestic and Family Violence Plan embedding the need for services like Adira that are responsive to cultural and linguistic diversity.
As the Centre enters its second year, the focus appears to be as much on changing systems as supporting individuals. For many in the sector, that shift—towards culturally safe services and prevention through education—is not only overdue, it’s essential.
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