Pauline Woodbridge

2017 College Recipient. College of Arts, Society and Education

Pauline Woodbridge is the co-ordinator at the North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service, which she established in 1994. Thanks to Ms Woodbridge’s dedication and commitment, the organisation has grown from a small service of four workers in Townsville to 15 employees across Townsville and Mt Isa.

For the past 30 years, Ms Woodbridge has worked hard to eliminate violence against women and children and promote education about domestic and family violence in the wider community.

In 2008 she was invited by the Prime Minister and the Minister for the Status of Women to become a member of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, and in 2015 was awarded an Order of Australia honour for her service to women through social welfare and support organisations.

Ms Woodbridge was also recognised in the 2006 Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards and the 2007 Townsville Australia Day Achievement Awards.

Her passion and hard work has seen the North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service develop into an organisation respected locally and throughout the state for its innovative practices, including developing appropriate services for rural and remote Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Leading by example, Ms Woodbridge acts as a role model to her staff by encouraging them to take a creative approach to provide up-to-date and relevant services to assist vulnerable women and children in the community.

She also actively passes on her skills and knowledge by training staff and mentoring current James Cook University social work students on placements with the organisation.

As well as her work with the North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service, Ms Woodbridge was a chair and founding board member of Homelessness Australia; the community co-chair of the Townsville Families Support Alliance; an advisory committee member to the 1800 Respect Service; a founding member of the Women’s Services Network, and a member of the Queensland Domestic Violence Council.

Ms Woodbridge also founded Dovetail, a program that brings together local agencies to provide an integrated and pro-active response intervention for domestic violence, and MenTER (Men Towards Equal Relationships), a men’s behavioural change program that challenges men to address their use of violence within relationships.

Willing to go against societal norms to be a voice for those who are not being heard or listened to, Ms Woodbridge has been proactive in her work to bring a sense of hope and justice into the lives of women and families.

Pauline Woodbridge graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Community Welfare.