Our programs provide individualised support for women who would like ongoing assistance or are working towards specific goals.
All programs at Lou’s are low-barrier and trauma-informed, designed to support safety, connection, and longer-term wellbeing. Women can engage in ways that feel right for them – whether through group programs, case management, or a combination of both.
Always Mum
Always Mum supports mothers and grandmothers with children in out-of-home care to strengthen connections and, where possible, work toward reunification.
It is a therapeutic, trauma-informed program focused on healing, identity, and connection through shared experience and reflection.
Always Mum brings together groupwork and ongoing support, helping women build connection, confidence, and clarity at their own pace.
What our program includes:
- A 10-week therapeutic and psychoeducational group program
- Therapeutic case management
Our groups offer a safe, non-judgemental space where women can reflect on their experiences, reconnect with their identity as mothers, and explore their relationships with their children.
Through shared conversation and guided learning, women explore parenting after trauma, emotional wellbeing, grief, accountability without shame, and ways of maintaining connection with children in care.
Themes explored in the group may include:
- Parenting after trauma and family violence
- Strengthening connection with children in care
- Emotional wellbeing, grief, and identity
- Accountability, healing, and self-reflection without shame
- Understanding child protection and Children’s Court processes
- Building safety, boundaries, and healthy relationships
- Exploring strengths, resilience, and hopes for the future
Case management support may include:
- Support to work toward restoration and maintain connection with children
- Advocacy and support through Children’s Court processes
- Support to engage with services and navigate systems
- Emotional and wellbeing support
- Ongoing support to work toward personal goals
Connecting Through Change
Connecting Through Change supports women who have experienced or are currently experiencing domestic and/or family violence (DFV).
It brings together therapeutic groupwork and holistic, wraparound case management to provide support that is grounded and responsive to each woman’s needs.
What our program includes:
- A 7-week therapeutic group program
- Individual DFV case management
Our groups offer:
- A safe, supportive space where women can reflect on their experiences, reconnect with their strengths, and explore what safety, healing, and healthy relationships look like for them.
- Through shared conversation, creative activities, and grounding practices, women explore boundaries, personal values, emotional wellbeing, and new ways of caring for themselves.
- The group centres connection, hope, and women’s strength, resilience, and sense of possibility.
Case management support may include:
- Support to explore safety options and plan for what feels right
- Advocacy and connection to services
- Emotional and wellbeing support
- Ongoing support to work toward personal goals
Stability First
Stability First supports women who are experiencing homelessness, or at risk of losing their housing, to find safety and build stability.
For some, support begins with immediate assistance in the drop-in centre. For others, it continues over time through case management — working alongside women to navigate housing, access services, and build stability.
Together, these supports help women move toward stable housing, strengthen connection to support, and build a foundation for longer-term stability.
Our program offers:
- Access to support through the Lou’s Place drop-in centre without an appointment
- Support that responds to immediate needs while working alongside women to navigate housing systems, sustain tenancies, and connect with services
- Crisis stabilisation, advocacy, and practical assistance
- Flexible, trauma-informed case management shaped by each woman’s needs
Case management support may include:
- Support to access safe and stable housing
- Support to sustain tenancies
- Advocacy with housing providers and services
- Support to attend appointments
- Connection to health, legal, and other community services
- Access to practical and financial support
Accessing Support or Making a Referral
Women can access support from our programs by dropping into Lou’s Place during opening hours, calling the centre, or emailing our team. No appointment or formal referral is required, and women are welcome to self-refer.
Services and community partners are also welcome to refer women via the referral form below, by phone or email, or by supporting a woman to visit the centre in person. If you are planning to attend with a client, we recommend calling ahead where possible so our team can support the visit.
Our team will work alongside each woman to understand her needs and connect her with the most appropriate support.
Refer a woman to a Lou’s Place Program
Complete this form to help connect a woman with practical, emotional and social support in a safe, welcoming and non-judgemental environment.