Support us

We are collecting funds for the ongoing financial support of The Women's Centre, to directly support women escaping domestic violence, homelessness and sexual assault.

How will the funds be used?

Funds will be used to finance service delivery and directly support the women.

All donations are tax deductable

A receipt will be sent to you via post or email as requested by you.

How can I help?

on the web

by clicking on the link to our online appeal at givenow.com.au

By mail

50-52 Patrick Street

Aitkenvale

QLD 4814

By recycling your old mobile phones

The Women’s Centre has entered into a partnership with ARP (Aussie Recycling Program) to collect and recycle old mobile phones which will raise money for the Women’s Centre.

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association estimates that there were about 12.8million mobile phones in use in Australia as at the end of 2002.
Research shows that consumers upgrade their phones every 18-24 months. This means that there are 3.5 million phones replaced each year.
It is estimated that there are about 10 million unused mobile phones sitting around peoples homes and offices around Australia.

ARP aims to recycle these, and re-use those which still operate, repair those which are repairable, and recycle the components of those which are left.

Mobile phones and accessories contain concentrations of toxic heavy metals or other metals including cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc, arsenic, antimony, beryllium, and copper.
Metals such as these are considered as:
• Persistent (don’t degrade in the environment) and
• Bioaccumulative (build up in fatty tissue to toxic levels over time
If any of these metals are allowed to leak into the environment in significant quantities, they may leach into the water courses or contaminate the soil. Metals build up in the soil and can then enter the food chain causing health problems.
These chemicals are associated with a range of adverse human health effects, including damage to the nervous system, reproductive and developmental problems, cancer and genetic impacts.
Cadmium for example is considered as the 7th most dangerous substance known to man. It is a toxic heavy metal that can harm humans and animals who ingest it. It is carcinogenic.

To prevent these adverse environmental effects, you can now recycle your old phones safely and easily.
Aussie Recycling Program is a mobile phone take back program designed to raise funds for charity and clean up the environment through the collection of unused mobile phones.

The focus of the program is re-use which is at the top of the environmental hierarchy and too important to ignore.
All phones collected are extensively tested, repaired if necessary, refurbished and re-sold into developing countries where low cost handsets are needed.

Phones which cannot be repaired, are used as spare parts.
Older phones which are seriously damaged are sent to material recycling, where they will be recycled in an environmentally sound manner. Materials which can be re-used are extracted to be put back into productive use, with the residual being disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations: none go to landfill.

The Aussie Recycling Program aims to help avoid a future environmental problem being triggered by the dumping of millions of mobile phones (currently being stored in cupboards and office draws), into landfill, by providing a responsible and environmental solution through the highest form of recycling - reuse.

Phones recycled by ARP are exported and help bridge the digital divide, improving local economies and also the quality of life in the developing world by providing affordable, modern communications for many people.

This will create jobs, stimulate business and strengthen communities among the poor in developing countries. The strategy to achieve this is by providing poor entrepreneurs a working solution to their poverty, rather than handouts, by offering them an opportunity to distribute recycled mobile phones.

The program creates new jobs. ARP’s aim is to have phones processed at sheltered workshops or employ unemployed labor, providing employment for the needy.

This program also aims to help raise much needed funds for charities and community groups

The Program donates $5 for every re-useable phone or $3 for every phone collected.

You can drop in your old mobile phones to the Women's Centre at

50 Patrick Street
Aitkenvale, in Townsville (North Queensland) or:

If your workplace would like to become a collection point for mobile phones, please contact the Women's Centre.