‘Australia Day’ has been and gone, however we should remember that the day is not a celebration for all people. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Australia day comes with mixed feelings of sadness, grief, loss and also feelings of pride and resilience, because the day marks the invasion of land occupied by […]

At Bonnie’s, we recently learnt that a 6-year-old connected to our service won a writing prize for a story she wrote in the Patrick White Indigenous Writers Award! We loved the story so much that we felt it was worth sharing on our blog. We hope you like her beautiful story about bullying as much […]

As the end of the year arrives, Bonnie’s team have been working harder than elves in a Santa’s factory, to ensure it is a festive season for all of the women and children who access our service. There is a lightness and a buzz in the air at Bonnie’s as we gratefully receive and busily […]

We are all so caught up in rushing in our day-to-day lives. Getting kids ready for school, deadlines at work, picking up kids from school, making sure baths and homework are complete before bed (phew… am tired from just writing that!) that we forget to take little moments to nurture ourselves. In my job, self-care […]

Domestic violence is a silent topic. Victims hide it, survivors rarely talk about it, and society pretends it doesn’t exist. It’s the elephant in the room: everyone sees it, but no one wants to admit it is there. But ignoring domestic violence doesn’t make it go away; in fact, it is the silence that keeps […]

Being in an abusive relationship can cause one to feel like they have lost their sense of self. When I was in unhealthy relationships, I would often disown the parts of me that my partner didn’t like. Either he would outright express his dislike of an aspect of my personality or he would do so […]

A little while ago I was watching an Insight episode called “Rebuilding Your Life”. People were invited to talk about how they were rebuilding their lives after experiencing a catastrophic incident. One man said: “I was able to be independent and use my own skills and abilities to manage my situation”. I was so impressed […]

Recently I was struck by a 6-year-olds answer to the question, what are you grateful for? The response was simple yet took me by surprise, “I am grateful for my warm bed to sleep in”. When I asked her why, she responded, “not everyone has a bed to sleep in’. There is much more awareness […]

In 2015, I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to Cambodia and spend three months teaching English to children. The school I volunteered at was built on a former landfill. All the children who attended the school used to work long hours on this dumpsite, without any form of education, healthcare or stability […]

Join us to commemorate women who have been murdered in 2018 due to domestic violence As part of the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, Bonnie Support Services will be facilitating a Candlelight Vigil on the 22nd of November, to remember the women who have lost their lives to domestic and family violence […]

One of the most joyous parts of working at Bonnie’s is observing the positive change in the children who come to us. When they first arrive their sense of ‘unsafety’ is often what is most noticeable – Watchful eyes, sometimes tears, sticking closely to their mother and siblings – We don’t always see a lot […]

This is a thank you letter to my family worker and to Bonnie Support Services. My name is Rachel*. I was born in West Africa in a country called Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone I was married to a man whom I believed was meant to be my protector but instead, he turned out to […]