Rosemary Dupont has spent decades "picking up clues". It's part of the reason why this almost 50-year volunteer felt compelled to join the board of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre - a free support network for anyone affected by sexual violence.
"I never stop learning," Ms Dupont said.
That is especially true for Ms Dupont in her latest role as the community stopped to recognise and pay tribute to volunteers across the country for National Volunteer Week.
Harrowing stories are relayed to the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, which supported more than 5400 people in crisis last year and its services were contacted more than 13,000 times.
This year marks the centre's 50th in operation, growing from a "feminist collective" with two volunteers and one phone line to now be a 16-hour-per-day service every day of the week.
It's people like Ms Dupont who help ensure the not-for-profit organisation continues to provide crisis response and expert counselling to those in need at a time when reports of sexual assault and assault related to family violence have increased by up to 90 per cent from 2014 to 2024.
While she's not on the front line counselling and speaking to victim-survivors, her work behind the scenes is crucial to ensuring the service stays open.
The 72-year-old was recently reappointed as a board member, volunteering her time developing policies, budgets, handling finances and working with staff to determine the direction of the organisation.
Ms Dupont has always had an interest in women's welfare, but pointed out victims of sexual assault were not all women.
"I was always interested and I just know [people] ... who have been sexually assaulted as well, so they were important factors," Ms Dupont said when asked what sparked her interest in volunteering at the crisis service.
She says you have to be a feminist to be part of the team. "I have always emphasised that," Ms Dupont said.
Ms Dupont's volunteer journey started far away from helping those in crisis. It began at the Melbourne Zoo in 1980 before moving to Canberra, where she has also offered her support to Pedal Power and Dying with Dignity ACT.
All of those previous roles have shaped her life as a volunteer, and now her time at the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
The social worker said she came across people who had been sexually assaulted in previous jobs and she learnt to recognise the signs - like a change in demeanour - that signal they may have been victims of sexual violence.
She said the service also helps children, men, family members of victim-survivors, and people who were concerned about loved ones, among other groups.
This year marks the 50th year the service has been operating. It delivers crisis response, trauma-informed counselling, advocacy, prevention education and support for victim-survivors navigating legal systems.
The centre is also set to get a $10 million boost as part of the ACT budget, which is set to be tabled in June.
"The Rape Crisis Centre provides services to everybody and it's all free," Ms Dupont said.
"The service is there for the whole community.
"As a volunteer, it's good. It builds your confidence and you start to learn about things in society, and you get to meet people and it gives you skills," she said.
"I never stop learning. If everybody did a little bit of voluntary work, it would make things easier in the community because there's not a lot of money around and there's a lot of competition for that money."
