© Image: Justine Wahlin
What We Do
Stepping Out runs workshops to address the trauma of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), meeting each victim-survivor where they are at. All groups are free to remove any barriers to participation and are delivered both in-person and online. Groups include:
- Social inclusion program
- Healthy relationships workshops
- Understanding and managing the impacts of CSA
We provide CSA-specific counselling and support with accessing Victim’s Services counselling.
We train frontline workers with specialist advice on best practice to manage CSA experienced by their clientele.
2024-2027 Strategic Plan
Download 2024-2027 Strategic Plan (PDF)
Our Values
- Trauma-informed practice
- Professionalism and integrity
- Consultation with victim-survivors
- Inclusion and diversity
- Accessibility and social justice
- Community collaboration
Our Team
Melissa Holmes – CEO
Melissa has extensive experience in the community sector, having worked across diverse roles supporting youth and women affected by homelessness, mental health challenges, criminal justice involvement, and addiction. She has postgraduate counselling qualifications and her career has evolved to focus on childhood sexual abuse (CSA), an issue she describes as the ‘elephant in the room’ in marginalized communities. She has worked with Stepping Out since 2017.
Melissa is motivated by her frontline experience to help CSA survivors catch up on memos missed in stolen childhoods through programs which provide connection, community and validation. She is committed to raising awareness, reducing stigma and challenging patriarchal narratives which mimic abuse and exacerbate the shame felt by survivors through no fault of their own. She feels strongly that breaking the silence around this taboo topic will shift that shame to the perpetrator where it squarely belongs.
When Stepping Out faced the threat of closure in 2022, Melissa stepped in to revitalize the organization, placing emphasis on frontline service delivery, community collaboration, lived experience consultation, and clinical expertise in a framework of feminism and social justice. She is proud to lead a service with such an important mission and a long history of supporting female CSA survivors.
Our Board
Our Board brings clinical expertise, lived experience and feminist values to the field:
Donna Bevan – Chair
Donna is passionate about child and adult survivors of CSA being heard, receiving the support and justice they need to be free of trauma and be able to live a life of choice.
Donna is the founder and Director of Connect Consulting. She has 40 years’ experience working in and with community organisations and government agencies. She is passionate about helping organisations to achieve high-quality, person-centred services and provides consultancy, training, strategic planning, community engagement, coaching and organisational development services.
Donna holds a Bachelor of Arts (social science) and a Master of Management (NFP).
Donna has trained, coached, and consulted many NFP Boards to ensure they provide excellent governance. She was a Director of The Ella Centre for 17 years.
Christine Roberts – Deputy Chair
Christine has over 30 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector, focusing on building community capacity to address social issues. After transitioning from roles in television and international conference organising, she spent 22 years at Youth Off The Streets, managing teams in fundraising, governance, operations, and reporting to Father Chris Riley and the Board.
Key achievements include coordinating fundraising and volunteer campaigns for Banda Aceh after the 2004 Tsunami and for a Youth/Community Centre in Macquarie Fields after the 2005 riots.
She has served on various boards, including Aunties and Uncles and the Fundraising Institute of Australia, where she was named a Fellow in 2019. She currently serves on the Youth Off The Streets Overseas Relief Fund board.
Kerrie Goddard – Treasurer
Kerrie is a seasoned finance professional bringing over 25 years of experience across a range of organisations and industries. She has expertise in finance, corporate governance and management.
She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Fellow Certified Practising Accountant (FCPA). Kerrie joined the board in 2024 as Treasurer.
Kerrie is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Stepping Out, to help support and enrich the lives of vulnerable women and those experiencing difficulties.
Michelle Maiese – Secretary
Michelle has over 30 years’ experience working in public healthcare organisations. This included working in clinical, managerial and director roles providing services to children and young people impacted by violence, abuse and/or neglect. Key to this work was collaborating with other government and non-government agencies.
Michelle has expertise in innovating service and programme delivery, formulating policy, building interagency partnerships and leading organisational change to improve care.
Michelle holds a degree in Social Work and is currently working as a consultant providing strategic advice, coaching and career planning.
Michelle looks forward to making a positive contribution to the Stepping Out Programme’s work towards breaking the cycle of sexual violence and intergenerational trauma for women survivors of child sexual assault.
Peta Courtney – Director
Peta’s qualifications include: BSc Psych (Hons), Graduate Diploma Applied Psychology, MA Counselling and Psychotherapy, and she has worked in a variety of industries as business owner, business manager, research assistant and bookkeeper.
After retraining 12 years ago, she has worked as a Counsellor in AOD residential treatment facilities for women and their children and currently consults with a job provider, working with the unemployed and underemployed as an EAP provider.
Her work has highlighted the prevalence of CSA and its long-term outcomes. She believes passionately in Stepping Out because it addresses inequities that result in disadvantage and provides opportunities for survivors to thrive.
Marley Greenwood – Director
Marly is an educational professional with experience in early learning, school education, parent programs, adult education, and workplace training.
She works for the Department of Education’s Early Childhood Directorate, focusing on quality and compliance in early learning services. A strong advocate for child safety, Marly has participated in numerous child protection committees and working groups. She was previously the Child Safe Lead for Mission Australia, where she developed child safe policies and supported staff with Child Safe Standards.
Marly also worked with Rainbow Families, promoting diversity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ families and staff. She lives with her wife, their two teenagers, and two dogs, enjoying hiking, kayaking, swimming, sewing, and family vacations.
Jess Hill – Director
Jess Hill has become one of Australia’s most recognized and respected thinkers on gendered violence. In addition to her broadcast work—two highly acclaimed docuseries on SBS, a Quarterly Essay titled The Reckoning, and a podcast series on coercive control titled The Trap—she has spoken on coercive control at nearly 400 events to diverse audiences across the country.
Her work has received multiple awards, including three Walkley Awards, an Amnesty International Award, and the Stella Prize for her debut book, See What You Made Me Do, in 2020. In 2023, Jess was named the Marie Claire Changemaker of the Year, and in 2024, she was honored as the NSW Woman of Excellence.
Tanya Lee – Director
Tanya has been a lived experience advocate for victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse, specifically incest, since the early 1990’s.
She founded Corrilee Foundation in 2006, an organization which stages major events and charitable fundraisers to raise awareness of various issues, including Dying with Dignity, Mirabel, Fight MND and Kids’ Helpline.
Her latest project is the No Laughing Matter podcast series which conveys actual stories of incest, narrated by prominent Australian media personalities.
Tanya received the Order of Australia Medal in 2019 for her service to the community through charitable initiatives.
Gideon Warhaft – Director
Gideon has extensive experience in advocacy, particularly in drug law reform and harm reduction. He served as editor of User’s News, a magazine by the NSW Users & AIDS Association (NUAA), and participated in various boards and committees focused on drug policy and health, including the NSW Justice Health’s Consumer and Community Group and the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre’s Community Consultation Committee.
Gideon was also an executive member of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and a founding member of Unharm. In 2023, he joined the board of Stepping Out, where he advocates for reducing stigma for survivors. Additionally, Gideon is a co-founder of Sage.fm, an online platform that facilitates consultations and drives positive change in social policy.