Zig Zag is a service for young women, trans and gender diverse young people aged 12 – 25 who have been impacted by sexual violence or need housing support and advocacy. We offer free, confidential and voluntary support for young people.
Zig Zag’s service delivery model
Zig Zag has a centralised Intake and Brief Support team who respond to all initial support enquiries and incoming referrals. The intake team then refer the young person to either the Housing Support Program or the Sexual Assault Support Program if more intensive supports are required.
The Intake and Brief Support team also provide young people immediate, brief and solution focused support and information, mobile outreach support, advocacy and referrals to other essential services (e.g. housing, financial, emergency relief, legal, drug and alcohol, parenting and health services).
We do not run ‘wait lists’ at Zig Zag, we triage support for young people based on their level of need, marginalisation, and assessment of safety and risk concerns.
Our support services
Sexual Assault Support Program
The Sexual Assault Support team offers support to young people who have experienced sexual violence. Young people can talk with a Sexual Assault Support Worker about any area of their life or about anything they need help with. Young people do not have to talk about their experience of sexual violence if they don’t want to and workers will never ask a young person to talk about anything they don’t feel comfortable to share.
We have a relationship-based approach at Zig Zag that recognises young people as experts in their own lives. Through relationship, young people are best able to share their experiences of what is happening in their life and what support might be most helpful for them.
The Sexual Assault Support team acknowledges that more ‘traditional’ forms of counselling can be exclusionary and culturally unsafe for some young people, particularly those from diverse cultural backgrounds. Our team is available to support young people in whatever way feels helpful for them. Whether that’s meeting in a park, having a coffee together or going for a walk, we are available to adapt our support so that it is accessible and meets young people’s needs.
Sexual Assault Support Workers use a flexible support approach. This might look like:
Housing Support Program
Housing Support at Zig Zag is holistic, responsive and flexible. We use an outreach and mobile support-based model to meet with young people in the community and understand that young people experiencing housing injustice and instability are often dealing with a range of other barriers and issues in their life – it never sits in isolation!
Alongside our mobile support services, we manage a Supported Accommodation Program and support nine units of housing across the Brisbane South region. Our accommodation program is prioritised for young women, trans and gender diverse young people who are parenting.
Please note, we do not provide ‘crisis accommodation’. Our housing program is duration of need, and vacancies are advertised on the Queensland Homelessness Information Platform (QHIP).
Housing Support and Advocacy Workers at Zig Zag can:
Community Development and Engagement
Please go to our Community Development and Engagement page to find out more about our community development and engagement activities including training and workshops for professionals, school-based activities, support for parents and carers and awareness raising activities.
