Are showers still available?

Yes, the Women’s House offers shower facilities.

Are you still offering meals?

Yes, we offer a free breakfast from Monday to Friday, from 8:30am until 12:00pm. Daily free community meals are also available at our St Kilda Dining Hall on 87 Grey Street.

Can I apply for crisis accommodation funding at the Women’s House?

We are not an access point for crisis accommodation funding. Please contact 1800 825 955 to find the access point in your area.

Unfortunately, no. The laundries at the Women’s House and at 87 Grey St, St Kilda will be closed until further notice.Orange Sky provides a mobile washing service – please check their website for up-to-date information.

Can I speak with a support worker?

Yes. You can speak with a staff member via telephone (03) 9536 8464 Monday to Friday 8:30am – 12:00pm or drop into the Women’s House during opening hours, Monday to Friday 8:30am – 12:00pm.

Can I volunteer at the Women’s House?

We appreciate your interest in volunteering with us. Our Women’s House volunteering is currently fully booked and we are not taking any volunteers for this service, but we regularly offer volunteering opportunities at our other programs. Find out more about our current volunteering vacancies.

Do you offer crisis accommodation for women?

No, the Women’s House is not a crisis accommodation. We offer short-term housing assistance for women experiencing homelessness or at immediate risk of becoming homeless. If you require crisis accommodation in the St Kilda area, please contact Launch Housing on 8598 1111.Click here to find services that provide urgent homelessness support.

Do you provide domestic and family violence support?

The Women’s House is not specialised in family violence support.If you or someone you know needs help, you can find a wide range of family violence support services on the Victorian Government website.

How can I access your services? Do I need a referral?

No referral is necessary. You can visit the Women’s House during opening hours.Alternatively, you can speak with a staff member via telephone (03) 9536 8464 Monday – Friday 8:30am – 12:00pm.

How can you help me with housing?

We can offer you up to six weeks brief intervention support, and during this period we can support you in a variety of ways in relation to housing; this may include support to submit an application to the Victorian Housing Register, enquiring on the status of an application, referring you to other support services to sustain or maintain an existing tenancy, support to take occupancy of a property or creating a referral for crisis accommodation.

I identify as LGBTIQA+. Can I access your services?

Yes, you are welcome! The Women’s House is open to all women (Cis and Trans).Sacred Heart Mission is a proud ally of the LGBTIQA+ community and we are committed to ensuring that our spaces are safe and welcoming for all people.

I need urgent support. Can you help me?

If you or anyone you know is in immediate danger, call 000 now.The Women’s House is an Engagement Hub that is open from Monday-Friday and offers a welcoming space for anyone who identifies as a woman (Cis and Trans) and is experiencing homelessness. Staff can provide up to six weeks brief intervention and offer basic material aid.To find homelessness services that provide urgent support, including after hours and on weekends click here.

Is the Women’s House open for clients?

Yes, the Women’s House is open from Monday to Friday.

Where is the Women’s House?

The Women’s House is located at 65 Robe Street, St Kilda VIC 3182.

The Women’s House

Are you in need of immediate help? Get help now

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Are you in need of immediate help? Get help now

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A welcoming, safe and supportive engagement hub

The Women’s House in St Kilda is a welcoming, safe and supportive Engagement Hub tailored to the needs of all Women (Cis and Trans) who are experiencing homelessness, financial hardship or barriers to social inclusion and participation.

We strongly welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people from the LGBTIQA+ community who may have a gender diverse experience. We are committed to providing a culturally safe and inclusive space for everyone who visits the Women’s House.

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Visit or contact us About the Women’s House Access the service Common questions

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The Women’s House provides:

A daily engagement hub and free breakfast
Short-term housing assistance and support
Referrals and advocacy
Material aid, clothing and non-perishable food items (subject to availability)
Shower and sleep room facilities
Social groups

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65 Robe Street, St Kilda VIC 3182

Drop in and see us from Monday to Friday, 8.30am-1pm

Appointments for housing support are available by presenting to 65 Robe Street from Monday to Friday, 8:30am-1pm (last appointment at 12pm)

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Our services for all women (Cis and Trans)

Our services are for all women (Cis and Trans) and people within and beyond the gender binary who feel this place is for them.

People who access the house may be experiencing or at risk of homelessness, living in financial hardship, poverty and disadvantage, have experienced multiple complex traumas including family violence and can feel socially isolated.

couches facing each other in the new women's house

The Women’s House works with women* to improve their life situation

We also work with women* for short periods of time, offering up to six weeks of housing support with one of our Pathways Workers to resolve housing issues and establish access to health and other support needs.

Structured wellbeing and personal skills development group activities are available every week. Activities include an art therapy program supported by the City of Port Phillip.

*At the Women’s House everyone who needs a space like ours is welcome at our table. Thanks to our ever-evolving understanding of gender, this now includes everyone who identify as a woman, as well as non-binary, intersex and gender diverse folk who feel this space is for them.

Sacred Heart Mission believes that the diversity of abilities, genders, sexualities, relationship identities, bodies and cultures in our community enriches us all and should be celebrated. Everyone is welcome at our table, and we will continue to work to keep the Women’s House a safe and welcoming place to those who need it, both within and beyond the gender binary.

How we support women in our community

Watch this video to learn more about how we work with women such as *Nat to rebuild their lives after a crisis:

Help women in our community

An interview with *Nat, a client at Sacred Heart Mission’s Women’s House, former Support Worker Robbie Chaplin and former Program Coordinator Maria Coelho.

Nat: When I came to the Women’s House, I looked like a lost woman. I was confused. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just came here to interact with people. It’s make me feel like I’m not alone. A lot of people have a similar experience.

Robbie Chaplin: The women that we work with have had decades of abuse and disadvantage and trauma. To hear their stories, to have them trust you with information that is often really hard to hear. So goodness knows what it’s like to actually live those lives.

Maria Coelho: A lot of women don’t feel safe in mainstream services. So having a place where they can come and sit down and have a cuppa, they know they’re safe. We have an average of 35 women coming through the door every day.

Robbie Chaplin: One of the primary ways of engaging is through the Women’s Engagement Hub. We have showers, washing machines and dryers. We have a sleep room for women who are sleeping rough.

Maria Coelho: Two meals a day, art activities, other programs run by volunteers on a daily basis. All we asked for people at the door is a name. So it doesn’t really need to be their real name. From then on, they can tell us as much or as little as they want.

Robbie Chaplin: We try to work in partnership with them. I think that’s incredibly important.

Maria Coelho: It’s one-on-one support. It goes from actually finding housing, finding crisis accommodation, support with getting ID, getting funding for household appliances or work on their mental health.

Nat: Since I came to the Women’s House, since I met Robbie, to be honest, it changed my life. My focus now is study. I’m studying community service and now I am a diploma student. I already received something. I want to give back. Basically, I just love to meet people in the Women’s House and support.

Maria Coelho: Supporting women, supporting each other.

Robbie Chaplin: You do this work to try and make a difference.

Maria Coelho: Try to empower women, make sure that they’re happy and safe. They can move on with their lives, that whatever crisis they’re in, that’s just a temporary thing. We just need to give people chances. And I think the Women’s House does that beautifully.

Robbie Chaplin: When we can work with the women to help effect the change that they’re seeking, it’s magical.

Nat: The Women’s House is my second home.

Help keep our Women’s House open – donate today!

How to access the Women’s House

The best way to access our service is for women to drop in between Monday and Wednesday from 8.30am to 11pm to discuss their needs with our duty worker. A referral is NOT required.

Workers from other services are welcome to come and introduce women to our service in person.

Please note, we preference visits from women with connections to the local area.

No, the Women’s House is not a crisis accommodation. We offer short-term housing assistance for women experiencing homelessness or at immediate risk of becoming homeless. If you require crisis accommodation in the St Kilda area, please contact Launch Housing on 8598 1111.

Click here to find services that provide urgent homelessness support.
We can offer you up to six weeks brief intervention support, and during this period we can support you in a variety of ways in relation to housing; this may include support to submit an application to the Victorian Housing Register, enquiring on the status of an application, referring you to other support services to sustain or maintain an existing tenancy, support to take occupancy of a property or creating a referral for crisis accommodation.
If you or anyone you know is in immediate danger, call 000 now.

The Women’s House is an Engagement Hub that is open from Monday-Friday and offers a welcoming space for anyone who identifies as a woman (Cis and Trans) and is experiencing homelessness. Staff can provide up to six weeks brief intervention and offer basic material aid.

To find homelessness services that provide urgent support, including after hours and on weekends click here.