EveryMan

14/10/2026

Honouring Pip (Piroska) Kovacs: A Life Dedicated to Service, Courage, and Dignity

​If we are lucky in life, we meet the Pips of the world in our trenches. We work with them, we stand alongside them, and we share the weight of things that matter.

​When they are no longer here, we are left with parts of their goodness that endure—a lasting reminder of just how vital our connection to community truly is.

​That reminder lives on in our thoughts, our laughter, our sadness, and our stillness.

​For all of the community Pip touched, as colleagues and as clients, we thank you. We keep a part of you with us as we carry on, walking forward a little sadder, knowing you remain alongside us now in a different way.

​Across Canberra and throughout the domestic and family violence sector, Pip stood as an unwavering champion for the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of women and children.

​Frontline work in our sector is demanding. It asks people to step into spaces of acute crisis, distress, and darkness, and to hold steady when systems fall short.

​Pip did this work with rare humility, quiet resolve, genuine empathy—and at times some serious clout, because she held the importance of those who need us with fierce reverence.

​At EveryMan, we carry a deep sense of loss, alongside lasting pride in having worked beside Pip.

​Pip understood that real accountability, cultural change, and safety are built through relentless care, consistency, and showing up for people every single day. She lived that standard in her practice and through her relationships across our community.

​Along with the rest of the EveryMan team, I want to extend a deeply personal and heartfelt thank you to our Partner Advocacy Service (PAS) team. Thank you for your fierce loyalty, your solidarity, and for standing so steadfastly alongside Pip as she travelled this path. The quiet strength, love, and care you offered her reflects the very best of who we are, and it exemplifies the true spirit of our collective container.

​Pip’s contribution leaves an enduring mark not only on the programmes and services she shaped in the ACT, but on the colleagues she supported and the many lives she helped protect and rebuild.

​To Pip’s family, friends, and loved ones who held her close, we extend our deepest care. Thank you for sharing her with our sector and our community.

​Pip, thank you for your service, your warmth, and your fierce heart. You remind all of us why this work matters. Your impact remains woven into everything we continue to build.

15/09/2026

The latest report from the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission reinforces an issue that EveryMan sees as critical: too much of our system is still focused on responding after violence has already escalated.

Strong support for victim-survivors must remain central. But if we are serious about preventing further harm, we also need to invest earlier in identifying, engaging and working with people who are using violence.

Research referenced in No to Violence’s Second Action Plan submission estimates that only 3.6% of identifiable domestic and family violence funding is directed to early intervention, compared with 55.9% directed to response.

These are not competing priorities. Supporting victim-survivors and intervening effectively with people using violence are both essential parts of a safer, more effective system.

Read the Commission’s latest report here: https://www.dfsvc.gov.au/yearly-report-parliament-2026

10/09/2026

Sami is 66 years old. He lives with schizophrenia, a psychosocial disability that developed years after a workplace injury and long-term depression. His journey into mental health challenges, isolation and homelessness reveals how easily people can fall through the cracks when systems fail to respond early enough, if at all.

After arriving in Australia, he settled in Sydney and worked hard in the aluminium industry, then as a taxi driver, and eventually in aircraft manufacturing.

In 2000, a serious back injury brought his working life to an abrupt halt. The aftermath, fighting for workers’ compensation and cycling through six lawyers, left him mentally and emotionally drained.

“I went to court six times. It was stressful. I got depressed,” he says. That depression, in time, deepened and spiralled.

By 2016, Sami was experiencing severe psychiatric symptoms. “I don’t know what I ate or what happened,” he recalls, “but I got sick. I couldn’t go out. I was seeing things. I was terrified for two years.”

Then, in 2018, he was evicted from his home of seven years without warning.

“The landlord kicked me out, just like that. I had nowhere to go. I had no choice but to sleep in abandoned cars. When I got paid, I would stay in a hotel to clean myself up. But most days I was living and sleeping in the streets, alone.”

Read the full article here: https://www.everyman.org.au/our-blog/man-talking-himself-street-has-name-and-story

09/09/2026

18/08/2026

For too long, perpetrators of family and domestic violence have used borders to evade accountability.

Fifteen men have been arrested in the ACT, and hundreds more in NSW, as part of coordinated cross-border police operations targeting people accused of family violence offences.

But arrests are only one part of the response.

What happens after an arrest? How do we ensure accountability leads to lasting behaviour change? Are men who use violence getting the right interventions, early enough and are victim-survivors receiving the safety and support they need?

And, crucially, what must we do earlier to prevent violence before police intervention is required?

The biggest challenge is building a system that prevents that harm, supports lasting change and keeps families safe.

Read more:

ACT and New South Wales police use cross-border operations to put domestic and family violence offenders "on notice", with 15 arrests made in the territory and hundreds more across the state.

13/08/2026

It’s encouraging to see Jonny Warren leading an initiative to bring vacant public housing back into use.

At EveryMan, many clients often can't move into long-term housing, because there simply isn’t enough available. They stay with us longer, our waitlist grows, and vulnerable men are left sleeping in rough conditions.

Every home made available can change a life.

Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/act-campaign-to-renovate-canberra-public-housing-pro-bono/107015858

Always appreciate the work you do, and initiatives you support Thomas Emerson

A Canberra real estate agent who was once homeless has offered to fix up 20 public housing properties pro bono, and is calling on the ACT government to agree to the project.

07/08/2026

After 28 years with EveryMan Australia including 6 years on the EveryMan Board, Greg Aldridge OAM has finished his tenure as Chief Executive Officer.

Greg’s contribution to our community reaches far beyond those 28 years. A registered psychologist, he has dedicated almost five decades to the community sector, advocating for more effective, inclusive and compassionate responses to men with high and complex needs and those at risk of exclusion and marginalisation, while also championing services and better outcomes for women, children and families affected by domestic and family violence.

During his time with EveryMan, Greg helped shape the organisation into what it is today, supporting men experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, disability and social isolation, while strengthening services that contribute to safer families and communities.

Those who have worked alongside Greg know his legacy is also found in the countless people, families, colleagues and communities he has supported along the way.

We thank Greg Aldridge OAM, for over two decades of leadership and your contributions to the people we exist to support. Your impact will be felt for many years to come.

07/08/2026

ACT's public housing waiting list currently has 3,600 approved applicants.

The average wait time for priority housing is more than five months.

For standard housing, people are on average waiting more than five years.

Surely, we can do better Canberra: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-07/canberra-homelessness-services-rise-public-housing/107004258

06/08/2026

When people experiencing homelessness lose their lives, they can too easily become invisible.

Without accurate data, we can't fully understand the scale of the issue, identify preventable factors or improve the systems designed to keep people safe.

Every person deserves to be counted, because every life lost helps us to understand how we can do better.

Calls are growing for the ACT to become the first jurisdiction in Australia to require the deaths of people experiencing…