Emma House welcomes new CEO Cindee Richardson

Cindee Richardson said for decades the focus had been on women and children fleeing their own home in order to be safe.

"It's time to keep our eyes on the perpetrator," she said.

"In Victoria, 32,000 and 14,000 children presented to homelessness services between 2019 and 2020, primarily because of family violence. It's absolutely atrocious.

"It is a human right to have a home, to feel safe, and I think we have to switch our thinking to put those affected first, and I want to be part of that movement."

Ms Richardson spoke to The Standard six days into her new role at Emma House.

"I have so far been really warmly welcomed and I hope I can contribute my education and my experiences to really making a difference here," she said.

A social worker by trade, Ms Richardson was born in Canada and has held various leadership roles there and in Australia.

She has extensive experience in agency management in the family violence and disability sectors, as well as with mental health, addiction and homelessness.

"I've spent my whole career working with marginalised populations," Ms Richardson said.

She said it was an honour to now be working with south-west women, as well as a progressive state government and a board of "like minds".

"I've also been a part of multi-agency working groups here and what I've seen so far is a lot of intelligence, compassion and good will," she said.

Ms Richardson hopes to increase intensive services to streamline intake processes and make a difference for women, without leading them into homelessness.

"We want to be able to offer quick and effective services because women tend to be kept in terrible situations because the solution is poverty and homelessness, and that is not appealing," she said.

"Instead of looking at clients as being complex, we have to look at the system as being complex and figuring out ways to deal with that.

"After being in business for 40 years, Emma House should be a cookie cutter model that can be replicated. We should know exactly what works and see that duplicated around the country."

Ms Richardson made the move to Warrnambool after living in Canada during the pandemic.

She said she instantly fell in love with the south-west.

"This region is just drop dead gorgeous," she said.

Emma House board chair Gabrielle Toscan said the board was thrilled to welcome Ms Richardson as CEO.

"Cindee will bring to Emma House a wealth of experience as a leader in the social services sector, which will help us consolidate and grow our services, and provide the best possible outcomes for women and children experiencing family violence," she said.

"Cindee has a warm, engaging personality that we know will be a wonderful fit for Emma House, and is sure to bring out the best in our staff members.

"The board is really looking forward to working with Cindee to ensure Emma House goes from strength to strength and continues our essential work as the primary family violence crisis support service for the south-west region."

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