During March, to celebrate International Women’s Day, we are celebrating the women of Yarra, and sharing stories from exceptional women who live, work or volunteer in the City of Yarra.

Rachel’s story

“We were really concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on people living in Yarra, particularly the public housing estates.

We recognised the Neighbourhood Justice Centre could help to bring the agencies together across Yarra to try to minimise any negative impacts of COVID-19 for those communities. 

I think, for all the people in the agencies, it was reassuring place to come and talk about what was happening with their clients. 

It was all remote, via Zoom. We met weekly, with about 40 or so agencies. We kept expecting them to stop coming to the meetings, but they kept showing up. We ran it from March right through to December last year. 

It was a lot of logistical, emergency response management. Just making sure everyone knew what others were doing so no one fell through the cracks. 

The biggest challenge was making sure our clients were okay, constantly thinking ‘what can we be doing to make this easier for the community?’. 

I just want to keep doing work that changes people's lives for the better. That changes society.

The things we do here at the Neighbourhood Justice Centre can bring about really needed social change. That's what I'm motivated by.”

About Rachel Powning

Rachel is the General Manager of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in Collingwood. The unique centre combines a Magistrates' Court with justice services and community engagement. It reduces crime by addressing the reasons people offend. Rachel’s background in international emergency response came in handy during COVID, when she and her team set up a Yarra-wide emergency coordination network. 

Celebrating the women of Yarra: Read more inspiring stories