Recommendations:

“I have worked with Jaclyn for over 5 years as her manager and colleague in her capacity as a domestic violence specialist support worker in a multidisciplinary legal team. Jaclyn supports victim survivors of domestic and family violence through the difficult family violence and family law jurisdictions. I have worked alongside Jaclyn in the most complex of cases where she provided unwavering support and fierce advocacy for women and children experiencing extreme violence, coercive control, sexual assault, human trafficking and forced marriage. Jaclyn is an expert in trauma-informed practice and recently wrote and delivered training to the legal profession around NSW on this important topic. Jaclyn is extremely well-regarded in the team and is loved by her clients. She is a kind and conscientious colleague who always gives her time to support others. I recommend Jaclyn to any team working with vulnerable clients”- Meredith Gray, Manager Strategy Policy & Projects (Family Law) Legal Aid NSW.

“I met Jaclyn in the capacity of a counsellor working with women and children experiencing violence and providing supervision to frontline workers. Jaclyn has a strong social justice focus, offering her clients a combination of empathy and compassion without judgement. Jaclyn demonstrates professional and ethical principles in her practice and at times had to be innovative in order to support women within the limited resources of her service. In fact, this was how I met her as she sought to further develop her network and resource base across the sector. Jaclyn was able to use skills of diplomacy, negotiation and advocacy on behalf of clients when dealing with diverse services such as Police, colleagues, and legal services, when pursuing the best outcomes for her clients. These services often have their own systems in place and are not always open to collaboration with other services. Achieving these outcomes Jaclyn was able to provide a more cohesive and comprehensive service to clients. Jaclyn advocated for clients when they could not do this for themselves, she encouraged their independence, self –advocacy and self- reliance as they began to recover from the debilitating effects of violence abuse and trauma”- Christine Prentice, Social Worker & Trauma Therapist.

“As manager of a women’s service I worked with Jaclyn as a colleague. Jaclyn is extremely dedicated to the wellbeing of her clients and their safety. Jaclyn’s compassion, commitment and care meant that she provided the specific and individual support each woman needed. Believing women, caring about what happens to them and providing the support was something Jaclyn did exceptionally well. Working on the frontline with women who have been victim survivors of trauma and abuse and are often not safe even after they leave takes a huge toll on workers. Women’s safety is the responsibility of our society and our communities. Too often that responsibility falls onto the shoulders of individual workers such as Jaclyn. Heroes like Jaclyn are often invisible to all except the women they assist, holding hope and the right to freedom, choice and safety until women can hold it for themselves”- Sharon, Manager Women’s Service.