Risky at the time, the Getting Settled: Women refugees in Australia brochure was a project too important not to tell and probably the most rewarding project of my career thus far. It shares the stories of a small selection of courageous women who have escaped torture, abuse and certain death to find refuge in Australia. Every element of the Getting settled project was designed to communicate the stories of these women; from the colour scheme of green and purple – representing women through to butterflies symbolising freedom, and stylised acacia, symbolising regeneration, perseverance and integrity through to the stylised needle work symbolic of the needle work therapy many of these women do as treatment for the PTSD that many of them live with.

The brochure was launched on UN World Refugee Day, 2012 by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. Initially produced with a 5,000 copy print run, supplies were completely exhausted within one week and close to 10,000 copies were on back order after two weeks requiring a subsequent 20,000 copy reprint with copies sent to Australian embassies and consulates around the world for further distribution. This led to the production and launch of the Getting Settled publication some months later which provided more stories of survival and endurance of more heroic women.