The new women's activist group will held at Carrie's Place offices next Thursday.

The initiative, by Carrie’s Place, will give local women a place to come together to discuss strategies for starting a dialogue about reducing domestic violence with government bodies.

Carrie’s Place chief executive Jan McDonald said the new group was open for all women in the community.

“Maitland has, for the last couple years at least, had the sad record of some of the highest rates of domestic and family violence in the Hunter area, and has been running at higher than the state average,” she said.

“Over the last two years, we’ve made a concerted effort to try and get our government leaders involved in trying to address the issue.

“We’ve been trying to work with Maitland City Council leadership to have a dialogue about what these higher than state average statistics mean, and also what action as leaders of the community can we make together to try and make an impact on reducing this in a long term sense.”

The first meeting will be held at Carrie’s Place Headquarters on High Street on Thursday, November 8 at 2.30pm. 

“We have a large Facebook community, so this is where the activist group came from,” Ms McDonald.

“We need to show Maitland City Council that it’s not just a Carrie’s Place thing ... it is a whole community issue.

“These are the people who want to do something. It’s about them having a platform.”

Carrie’s Place provides domestic violence and homelessness services, and has operated in the Maitland and Lower Hunter since 1979.

Ms McDonald said the idea for a women’s activist group had received a “great response” from women in the Hunter region.

“We’ve been quite overwhelmed, I’ve got of about 20 core women who have said they are going to come next Thursday,” she said.

“The idea is we will just see where we go … we hope they will become self-driving, and Carrie’s Place will give them a place to keep and a small amount of resources.”

People must RSVP and should call Carrie’s Place on 4934 2585.