Hutt St Centre launches new Women’s and Children’s Wellbeing Centre

Hutt St Centre is today announcing its intention to establish South Australia’s first dedicated, women-only, child-safe and trauma-informed wellbeing centre for women and their children, at risk of or experiencing homelessness. 

Acknowledging Hutt St Centre’s heritage and named after Rosalie Rendu, a renowned Sister of the Daughters of Charity who supported homeless women and children in Paris in the 1800’s, the Rosalie Rendu Safe Place will be located at near Hutt St Centre’s existing Wellbeing Centre.  

It will be a safe space for women and their children, who can sometimes feel threatened by the volume of people at the existing Wellbeing Centre.  

Hutt St Centre CEO Chris Burns said the Rosalie Rendu Safe Place would offer women and their children a safe and private place to seek help early, before their circumstances escalated into a deeper crisis. 

“The centre will provide practical assistance, wellbeing services, housing pathways and coordinated specialist support, along with access to showers, laundry services, a hot meal and a cup of coffee when needed,” Mr Burns said.  

“By helping women move towards safety, stable housing and greater independence, the new women’s and children’s wellbeing centre will benefit not only the women and children it supports, but the broader community.  

“The Rosalie Rendu Safe Place will be a daytime crisis-support service, not accommodation, a refuge or an overnight shelter. It will work closely with our existing Wellbeing Centre and other specialist partners to strengthen the city’s immediate response to homelessness and provide a compassionate, practical pathway towards lasting stability – and what we call homefulness.” 

Women accessing Hutt St Centre services have increased by 77 per cent since 2021. In 2025, Hutt St Centre supported 528 women. Across the state, an estimated 3,936 women are experiencing homelessness, representing almost half of the state's homeless population.  

Mr Burns said many women experiencing homelessness had also experienced domestic and family violence, sexual violence or other trauma, and a busy mixed-gender service could feel unsafe, deterring some women from seeking assistance or bringing their children to the existing Wellbeing Centre.  

While South Australia has limited existing crisis accommodation and specialist services, he said there were no dedicated, trauma-informed triage and crisis response wellbeing centres  where women at risk of or experiencing homelessness could access crisis response, primary care and other support services alongside their children in one purpose designed environment.  

“At Hutt St Centre we will never turn anyone away, but our capacity to support an increasing number of people seeking services is being challenged as we will run out of space in our Wellbeing Centre by the end 2028,” Mr Burns said. 

“The Rosalie Rendu Safe Place, specifically for women and children, will ease capacity and provide a greater sense of wellbeing and security for those in need, including women fleeing domestic and family violence.  

“The new centre will also ease pressures on our Wellbeing Centre and allow us to continue to provide services – whether it be a shower, laundry services, a medical check or a hot meal – to every person needing support, without fear of reaching capacity. 

Hutt St Centre client Jess experienced domestic and family violence throughout her childhood and later in marriage. At times battling substance abuse, she has slept rough and relied on temporary accommodation, sometimes in unsafe environments, while also facing the distress of being separated from her two children. 

Jess sometimes found the busy, mixed-gender environment of the Hutt St Centre difficult to navigate. Being around men could bring back memories of past trauma, making it harder to feel comfortable, ask questions or speak openly about what she needed.  

"Having a women's centre when I was experiencing homelessness would have helped with a lot of anxiety and uncertainty,” Jess said. “When you're a woman who's been through stuff, even if it's not DV, you're going to connect with women more than men."  

"Once upon a time [I] didn't know what services were or what I could access. That can be really scary. And I truly believe Adelaide needs not just one [women's centre], we need 
more." 

Plans for the new centre have not yet been finalised. However, it will aim to provide or connect women with: 

• meals, showers, laundry and essential material assistance;  
• housing assistance and pathways to crisis and longer-term accommodation;  
• case management and coordinated support;  
• healthcare, mental health and wellbeing services;  
• domestic and family violence support and safety planning;  
• legal, financial, employment and education assistance;  
• secure storage and lockers; and  
• child-friendly family spaces, community connection and women-focused programs.  

The Rosalie Rendu Safe Place will have controlled access, discreet security, private rooms and a family space to support safety and privacy.  

It will not provide accommodation or overnight services. 

Mr Burns said the new centre, once open, would reduce the number of people on the street and minimise disturbances while providing support to our community’s most vulnerable. 

Hutt St Centre is working with potential donors and supporters, including the Nunn Dimos Foundation, to raise the essential funds required to establish and operate the new women’s and children’s wellbeing centre.