Migrant women's centre wins NSW tender

NSW Human Rights Ambassador Maha Abdo says migrant women in Sydney are at risk of homelessness or domestic violence and need culturally appropriate support services.

She should know - she runs the Muslim Women's Association's (MWA) Muslim Women's Support Centre, which has been helping women in Sydney's southwest for the past 30 years.

On Thursday, state Minister for Family and Community Services Gabrielle Upton announced that the refuge has won a $1.9 million tender from the NSW government to expand its work throughout southwestern Sydney.

Ms Abdo says migrant women in trouble need staff who know the culture, speak the language and have strong links to the community.

Based in Bass Hill, the MWA is one of four organisations that will join 143 specialist homelessness service providers that were announced in June under the Going Home Staying Home reforms.

"(Migrant women) need particularly sensitive assistance at a very vulnerable point in their lives," said Ms Upton.

"I want to share with them in celebrating a refunding of their important work to the tune of $1.9 million per year over the next three years," she said.

These are a swathe of contentious reforms that include a resource allocation model that forces refuges to compete against each other for funding.

"Over the last 18 months we've had a lot of obstacles and a lot of pain in... uncertainty," said the MWA executive officer Ms Abdo.

No matter what obstacles arise Ms Abdo said her volunteers continue to put the women and their families first.

"Our aim is to not just provide early intervention and crisis programs but hopefully to eradicate domestic violence and homelessness," she said.

Joining the MWA, the Wandiyali ATSI, Warlga Ngurra Women and Children's Refuge, and Ungooroo Aboriginal Corporation were also chosen to deliver homelessness services for Aboriginal people, particularly young people, women and families.

They will operate across the Hunter, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens areas from early in 2015.