Who We Are
The Armidale Women’s Shelter values it’s staff and volunteers who show compassion, empathy and enormous skill.
Our team of experienced and professional staff
Operations Manager
Our Operations Manager supports our staff and enables them to do their work as effectively and efficiently as possible, overseeing operations and providing guidance to our team to ensure case management is ethical, effective, and efficient. Promoting a culture of quality assurance and continuous improvement in service delivery, supporting the CEO and organisation to achieve and maintain quality outcomes for our community.Case workers
WSA support staff contribute to the provision of a comprehensive range of support services to women in the New England community. They continuously assess the support needs of women who have experienced, or who are at risk of experiencing, domestic or family violence and/or homelessness. In doing so, they provide collaborative case management to assist clients to develop fulfilling, independent lives, free from relational abuse and with safe, affordable, accommodation.Specialist children’s and young person’s workers
Experienced and equipped professionals providing specialist services to the children and young people of the New England region who have experienced domestic violence and/or homelessness. Providing specialist support to assist with recovery from trauma and implementation of early interventions for our youth to flourish.Cultural Integration worker
Our cultural integration team member collaborates and works closely with clients and originations within our community to deliver culturally safe, authentic and appropriate case management. Womens Shelter Armidale prides ourselves on ensuring our services cater to and facilitate our diverse range of community members.Support Workers
Our Support Workers are the practical backbone of the service, providing the hands-on support that keeps women, children and young people safe and our sites running smoothly. They help with moves, set up rooms, support community events, run day to day activities and step in wherever needed so that the houses are stocked, welcoming and calm. Grounded in respectful, person centred practice, they bring steady, reliable help in the background so that women and children can focus on safety, recovery and the next steps in their lives.Our Governance Team
Heidi Burton
Chief Executive OfficerCaroline Coupland
President – SecretaryKye Single
Vice PresidentJuliet Kaberry
Board memberSara McNeall
Embrace RepresentativeHeidi Burton
Chief Executive Officer
Life’s challenges can be magnified when systems are not built for everyone. Heidi Burton’s passion is to dismantle barriers and create pathways that allow every person, regardless of ability or circumstance, to participate fully in their community.
Heidi is the Chief Executive Officer for the Women’s Shelter Armidale Inc, leading a committed team to provide best practice services to women and families who experience Domestic and Family Violence and homelessness. She focuses on ensuring services are culturally safe, trauma informed, and responsive to the realities of rural and regional communities.
Prior to joining the Shelter, Heidi worked extensively in the disability advocacy sector where she championed the rights of people with a disability, influenced policy reform, and built strong collaborative networks across government and community organisations. Her work has focused on Supported Decision Making, access and inclusion, and ensuring that those most impacted are included in the design of solutions.
Heidi holds degrees in Psychology, Social Work, Education, a Diploma of Human Resources, and a Diploma of Quality Auditing. She is currently completing her MBA to further strengthen her capability in strategic leadership, governance, and organisational growth.
Raised with a strong rural work ethic and deep connection to community, Heidi combines practical leadership with values-based decision making.
Heidi has lived and worked in regional NSW for many years and is committed to ensuring that women and families have access to safe housing, responsive services, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity and security.
Caroline Coupland
President/Secretary
Caroline has nearly 20 years’ experience working as a lawyer in both the commercial and government sectors and is an internationally accredited in-house counsel. She commenced her legal career as a litigator in the Supreme and District Courts before moving interstate and overseas, later moving to commercial law. Her private sector law experience has largely been with national law firms and more recently with start-ups including working with the Cape York Land Council on a bespoke contract with multiple stakeholders. She was a lawyer in both the Compliance Directorate and Funds Management team at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in Sydney for 6 years and worked on the review of one of the largest corporate collapses in the country’s history. While working at Parliament House in Canberra she initiated through the Clerk for the 39th Parliament the introduction of a quota system for speaking times for independent members.
She has a keen interest in Corporate Governance and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has served on several boards: as the company secretary of an agricultural company and of an international joint venture in the defence sector; on the board of the St Kilda Legal Service and for 6 years as a non-executive director on the board of a Disability organisation. She has a keen interest in social equity: working evenings as a volunteer lawyer for community legal centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and as a defence lawyer for street sex workers in the Melbourne “Loiter Court”. She also has an interest in First Nations’ welfare, assisting with one of the northern Mob’s fire management projects and having lived for a short period on Palm Island assisting through a SVdP program. She has a daughter with Williams Syndrome.
Juliet Kaberry
Member
Juliet holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psych/Soc), Bachelor of Laws, and Grad Dip in Legal Practice. She has worked as a Family support worker in Moree, a Counsellor at Community Health and later at TAFE, and a Lawyer for 15 years specialising in family law and child protection. She is a founding member of the WDVCAS board in Moree in 2006, panel solicitor acting for children in child protection and family law matters, and was vice-president of Community Housing in Moree from 2004 – 2007. Juliet has served the Women’s Shelter Management Committee for many years and has been an integral part of its sustainability.
Sara McNeall
Embrace representative
Sara McNeall is a practicing Primary School Music Teacher, and a member of EMBRACE, a voluntary group which organises donations of beds, furniture and kitchen items from their St Marks church community exclusively for the Women’s Shelter which they donate and deliver these items to clients moving into transitional housing.
Steven Widders
Member
Uncle Steve Widders is a descendant of the Kamillaroi and Anaiwan people of Northern NSW. He has lived and worked on the ancestral ground of his people most of his life and has great pride in his identity as an Aboriginal Australian. He has served as a member of the NSW Disability Council, National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC), and is currently a board Member of Multicultural NSW. Additionally, Steve is Chair of the Newara Aboriginal Corporation, the Anaiwan Language Revival Group, he is a board member of Armidale AM Rotary Club, a Paul Harris fellow, and is a cultural and heritage advisor to local organisations. On top of this, Steve has achieved many personal triumphs, including becoming one of the first blind men to walk the Kokoda Track. He has also completed several tandem bike rides to raise funds and awareness for Men’s Health concerns.
