Onkaparinga Council award Helen Oxenham with key to the city for ‘lifetime’ of supporting women

A childhood of domestic terror led her to establish the first women’s shelter in Christies Beach in 1977. Now she’s been recognised for her exceptional work.

Onkaparinga Mayor Moira Were presents Helen Oxenham with the key to the city. Picture: Supplied

A 93-year-old woman has been given the City of Onkaparinga’s most prestigious award for decades of supporting women experiencing family and domestic violence.

Helen Oxenham OAM received the key to the city for her profound impact on the community, including establishing the first women’s shelter in Christies Beach in 1977, and launching a series of public artworks as commemorative spaces for victims and survivors of family and domestic violence across South Australia.

Mayor Moira Were presented the award in front of nearly 50 of Ms Oxenham’s friends, family and distinguished guests – saying Ms Oxenham’s achievements had been nothing short of “exceptional”.

“Helen has been a stalwart advocate for women’s rights her entire life, as the hundreds she has helped would attest,” she said.

“A key to the city is a suitable reflection of the outstanding impact she’s had on the City of Onkaparinga and its people.”

Ms Oxenham is just the fifth person to receive the key to the city in the council’s history, joining Richie Porte (2019), Mayor Ray Gilbert OAM JP (2006), Edith Gilbert JP (2006), and Andy Thomas (1998).

Onka Mayor Moira Were with Helen Oxenham, right, who has dedicated her life to supporting women in need experiencing family and domestic violence. Picture: Supplied

Ms Oxenham’s passion for supporting family and domestic violence victims stems from her own upbringing, where she witnessed her father’s frequent abuse of her mother and family members in Cork, Ireland.

“I remember banging against my father’s knees with my fists trying to stop him from beating my mother,” she told The Advertiser in 2019.

“The house was filled with cries of terror, neighbours must have heard us but nobody came to rescue us.

“The terror experienced then is hard to forget. It never leaves you. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast but I can never forget that stuff.”

After emigrating to Australia with her husband in the 1950s, Ms Oxenham met various different people who had experienced similar violence, which further grew her desire to make a significant impact.

In 1977, she helped open the first women’s shelter at 73 Beach Road, Christies Beach, where a plaque now honours her service to the community.

She continued to raise money and donations for hundreds of victims since the shelter’s inception, which led to her being awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2020.

“Although Helen easily could have rested on her laurels years ago at over 90 years old – and passing some of her responsibilities to her daughter Heather – she is still fundraising, lobbying and standing up for the rights of women and children,” Ms Were said.