Sagalee Omer

With more than 100 million people forcibly displaced across the world, specialist trauma-focused services that empower refugees to thrive have never been more important. The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. (also known as Foundation House) was founded in 1987 to advance the health, wellbeing and human rights of people of refugee background who have experienced torture or other traumatic events. We have worked with over 100,000 people from more than 70 different communities and have grown from a single worker to a team of approximately 250 staff across five sites in metropolitan Melbourne and have partnerships with community organisations across Victoria. Foundation House is recognised as a national leader in the provision of trauma-informed and trauma-focused service delivery that effectively supports the recovery and settlement of our clients, their families and their communities. Our organisation is committed to maintaining a culture of continuous improvement at all levels and to being a responsible and positive partner with agencies in our sector, and beyond. Our services include counselling, advocacy, family support, group work, psychoeducation, information provision and complementary therapies. In addition, we deliver an expansive capacity building and engagement program with refugee communities and provide specialist trauma-informed training programs to professionals in the health, mental health, community, education, legal and government sectors. Foundation House also plays an active role in the provision of policy advice and advocacy to state and federal governments for improvements in policies and programs that affect the lives of refugees and asylum seekers.