CHAA updates

The CHAA community enjoyed an End of Year Celebration where HUB members and POD Facilitators came together in gratitude, reflection and connection.  We launched our fund-raising initiative selling CHAA branded dolls and bunnies to provide small amount of funding to support community members leading PODs. We also had a stall at the Inala Elders Market to raise awareness about CHAA and fund raise through selling our CHAA branded products.

A key resource for community POD facilitators was developed this month making it easier for members of the community to safely and skilfully prepare to become facilitators of groups in their own communities. We will continue to build the resource kit for POD facilitators over the next 6 months.

This month will see the finalisation of the training calendar for 2026, as we strive to tailor our training delivery to meet the needs of our POD facilitators and the natural helpers within our PODs to build their confidence and capacity as natural helpers to those impacted by DFV.

We are thrilled to announce that the Lady Mayoress, Nina Schrinner, has agreed to be our Patron for CHAA. Nina was struck by the power of community connection for healing at our CHAA High Tea, which aligns with her own passionate, peaceful and safe families and communities. The Lady Mayoress’s patronage will support our movement to end DFV to become even stronger, and we are so appreciative of her support.

CHAA had a table at the Inala Elder Christmas Market on the 17th December, where we sold CHAA-branded merchandise to raise money for our CHAA Pods. A big shout out to our volunteers, Kay, Laura, Tahani, Fatima and Sue for volunteering their time.

November 2025 was an exciting month as we made significant steps forward in building the CHAA training scaffolding!

We were pleased to deliver another round of peer support training, building the capacity of natural helpers in our community to support others in need. Thankyou goes to Lord Mayor Charitable Trust for funding this important skill development activity and to Francesca from Peer Skills for the engaging facilitation. Participant takeaways from the training included it being a good reminder to be compassionate and listen and not jump into solutions. People valued the PENOOCH problem solving model as a framework for deeply listening to understand a person needs and how they are feeling, before supporting them to thinking through options for solving their problems.

The Culturally Safe Responses to DFV training was delivered this month deepening our critical understanding of self-awareness regarding our own cultural lens, considering the pre-settlement and settlement journeys of people, and how we can offer more culturally safe support for CALD people who have experienced DFV.

A very big thank you to Seble and Kerrie for facilitating the culturally safe session, which was highly collaborative and insightful for our HUB, POD Facilitators, and community members.

Meanwhile, our dedicated CHAA Training Working Party (Rob, Mia, Maree & Rod) is actively working to design DVF First Aid training bites and constructing a comprehensive training calendar for 2026. This vital foundation will enable us to continue co-creating new knowledge and grow capability together in community healing and accountability, ensuring a coordinated plan for skill development for the year ahead!

We’re thrilled to share our significant steps forward in October 2025, especially the inspiring energy from our High Tea event on the 16th.

The event was a sensational success, gathering over 40 attendees, including participants from our Empower Her and Stay and Play PODs, along with various services and dignitaries. A huge thank you to Mary for orchestrating the fabulous set-up and catering, and to our dedicated community members for their crucial support with logistics.

We were honoured to host the Lady Mayoress Nina Schrinner, who shared reflections on the importance of community connection for healing. We also heard powerful testimonials from POD members about their healing journeys and progress in starting their own community-based POD—a beautiful demonstration of ‘regeneration’!

The attendance of key stakeholders, including PHN contact manager Joanna and Felicity (representing Margie Nightingale MP), underscored the growing awareness of CHAA’s impact. Overall, the event achieved its goal of creating greater intentionality around community healing and forging stronger connections.

Our POD Facilitators Networking Circle continues to meet and this month came up the idea of selling toys branded with CHAA to raise money for our up-and-coming Community PODs. This is an exciting step forward as it marks a move away from a reliance on government funding.

September has been an inspiring month of growth. Community members already engaged in PODs have stepped forward with enthusiasm to start new PODs in their own neighbourhoods and cultural communities — independent of formal organisations. This marks a significant milestone, as community members are stepping into leadership and taking active roles in supporting safety and healing in their local areas.

The CHAA Hub is walking alongside these emerging facilitators to co-design sustainable approaches that place community empowerment at the centre while maintaining safety for everyone involved.

We are also preparing for the next stage of training and development, including:

• Creating Cultural Safety in DFV responses for Hub members and POD facilitators
• Another round of Peer Skills Training for natural helpers involved in PODs

Both initiatives will roll out before the end of the year, further equipping our network with skills to grow safer, stronger communities.

This month, the CHAA Hub proudly welcomed new members from the Inala Hub — including colleagues from Inala HUB Community Engagement and Legal Services — as well as Micah Projects. With these additions, our Hub now brings together over 20 services and individuals, fostering rich collaboration across sectors. This breadth of expertise strengthens the support available to our PODs and deepens our collective work in family and community peace-building.

Our PODs remain vibrant and active. A key milestone this month was the launch of the monthly POD Facilitators Networking Forum, which connects current and emerging facilitators with each other and with Hub members. Together, we are sharing challenges, exchanging ideas, and reflecting on learnings as we co-create strategies to strengthen the CHAA movement.

July was a milestone month for CHAA as we celebrated our One Year Anniversary, a powerful reminder that CHAA is no longer just an idea, but a movement driven by community, courage, and connection.  Our anniversary celebration was a vibrant and moving event, opened by Margie Nightingale MP, whose words affirmed the critical importance of community in ending DFV and supporting healing. Throughout the event, we heard deeply personal and inspiring reflections from survivors who shared how being part of a POD has supported their healing journeys. One of our dedicated POD facilitators spoke about the importance of community in healing and how in their POD, ‘it all starts with a cuppa’. We were especially moved by stories shared by two of our African Sisters, highlighting the unique and vital work happening within their three African Women’s PODs.

To honour the passion and commitment of our members, we proudly presented Community Spirit Awards to seven participants who have gone above and beyond in championing the heart of CHAA and in supporting others.

Thank you to everyone who continues to shape CHAA into the powerful, people-led movement it is today. Here’s to another year of walking alongside one another in healing and hope.

This month we were honoured to welcome Rod Kippax as our new Anchor to the CHAA team. Rod brings with him a wealth of experience and heart, and we’re excited for the journey ahead with his leadership and support.

This month, over 20 participants from our CHAA PODs and beyond took part in Peer Skills training, thanks to our partnership with Change Futures.  The two-day, hands-on training— delivered by Francesca Lejune and funded by the PHN—focused on developing the skills and confidence of natural helpers to better support their peers, many of whom have experienced DFV. The sessions were practical and engaging, empowering participants to take on a greater role in helping others within their communities. We’re proud to see our POD members growing as confident, capable peer supporters and many natural helpers are discovering that in supporting others, they are also finding healing and personal growth themselves.

In May, CHAA continued to strengthen community engagement and support through a range of targeted initiatives. We piloted our Training Bites sessions with natural helpers from several of our PODs, offering accessible, skills-based learning opportunities grounded in lived experience. Our three weekly HUB meetings provided consistent spaces for connection, updates, and collaborative planning across teams and community stakeholders. We partnered with Broken to Brilliant to deliver the Legal Laureates program, offering a free legal advice workshop to individuals impacted by domestic and family violence (DFV).

A new PODs launched this month—Bint Al Neel-Daughter of the Nile Group, focusing on African and multicultural women. The group has been founded to reduce isolation and empower migrant women, and offers cultural events, wellbeing workshops, and skills development in areas like digital literacy, employment, parenting, and financial literacy.

We are also in the development stage of two other PODs which are a Men’s Foster and Kinship Carer group, aimed at supporting male carers through community engagement and peer connection and a Foster and Kinship Care Playgroup which will bring carers and their children together through connection, support and positive learning opportunities.

Planning has been taking place with Change Futures for the delivery of Peer Skills training with selected natural helpers to enhance their ability to support others in their communities.

Inala Community House (ICH) commenced a new playgroup for mums and bubs called Happy Hearts, responding to the community’s need for more opportunities for mums to join together with other mums and support one another on their parenting journey.

Our Men’s Group – SECUR joined as a CHAA POD this month. Our ICH Men’s Group is open to all men in our community. It provides an opportunity for men to connect and build Strength, Empathy, Compassion, Understanding and Respect for themselves, their families and their communities.

Our Village CHAAter (ie working agreement) is being developed providing clarity for HUB members and their supporting organisations on the roles and expectations for being on the HUB. We started supporting our POD facilitators/peace builders to plan how they can bring their PODS on the journey of CHAA. We continue to talk with interested organisations and individuals about what role they may wish to play in CHAA. Our website is developed and goes live.

Our HUB membership is taking shape and we identified our first three PODS. Our Core Group continues to meet to provide direction for the project.

We held two co-design workshops with potential HUB members with over 15 organizations participating. Together we are working through and developing a shared vision of how CHAA will work in our communities. This includes how the HUB communicates and supports PODs and the tools and approaches that POD Facilitators/Peace Builders may need to support their PODS on this journey towards community healing and accountability. Paramount is supporting survivors to heal by elevating and being led by their voice, safety for all and the need to think and act creatively.

CHAA hosted a community engagement workshop which was attended by 30 participants from 18 different services/communities. From here we called for people to express an interest in being a part of the collectivist HUB.