Ruah Community Services
Providing healing and recovery support for Western Australian women and their children.
Warning: This content contains details of family and domestic violence that may distress some audience members.
About Ruah Community Services
Ruah Community Services (Ruah) is an integrated community service provider in Western Australia, delivering a range of wrap-around support services to those in need.
Walking alongside its clients, Ruah supports people experiencing housing instability and homelessness, family domestic violence and mental health challenges - empowering them to make meaningful change in their lives.
By collaborating with other service providers, Ruah ensures individuals and families can access the right help at the right time.
Angela Wright Bennett Centre
In October 2024, Ruah opened the Angela Wright Bennett Centre – a purpose-built, seven-storey facility offering safe accommodation and an extensive range of services all under one roof.
The centre was designed in consultation with Aboriginal Women Elders, as well as Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women with lived experience of family and domestic violence.
Ruah Chief Executive Officer Deb Zanella said this collaborative approach ensured the centre would be a place where women and children feel safe, welcome and supported to heal and rebuild their lives.
“The Angela Bennett Centre was really a response to Ruah’s commitment to the community, to society, about a focus on family and domestic violence but in the healing and recovery post-crisis space,” Deb said.
“It provides around 16 wraparound services that was co-designed with women and with children who said, if I was healing and recovering, this is what I would need.”
MinRes’ partnership
A cornerstone of the centre is the Karlup Service, which provides dedicated healing and recovery support to women and children as they rebuild their lives.
As part of this service, Mineral Resources Limited (MinRes) funds five Koorta Guides - meaning “trusted friend” in Noongar language. Guides walk alongside victim-survivors, helping them navigate services without the trauma of having to repeatedly share their story.
Ruah clients are often disengaged and not well connected to supports and resources, so the Koorta Guide in another content would be a health navigator or a case manager. Clients develop that core relationship with the Guide, who assist them in navigating the service system.
MinRes Director People Andrea Chapman reflected on the importance of providing dedicated support for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence.
“We are proud to stand alongside Ruah in creating a safe, supportive pathway for women and children rebuilding their lives after experiencing family and domestic violence,” Andrea said.
“The Koorta Guides bring compassion, understanding and practical advocacy to ensure every person is supported through their journey.”
Learn more at ruah.org.au.
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