Women’s health in Victoria – making real change

Women and girls make up more than half of our population, yet their health has been overlooked and underdiagnosed for too long.

Women often experience barriers when trying to access the services they need to support their physical and mental health.

Gender equality contributes to better health. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Every girl and woman deserve access to care regardless of their background or circumstances.

We are dedicated to improving women’s healthcare in Victoria by setting a new standard for comprehensive, accessible, inclusive, high-quality services.

To bridge the gap in women’s healthcare, our Victorian Government is leading the delivery of the $153.9 million package to change the way women’s health issues are treated. This includes 20 new comprehensive women’s health clinics, expanding our sexual and reproductive health hub network, supporting the establishment of a Women’s Health Research Institute and scholarships to ensure our wonderful healthcare workers have the skills and tools they need to support Victorian women.

Pain management

In an Australian first, we’ll also launch an inquiry into women’s pain management, to examine systemic issues and find solutions, chaired by a panel of experts who will hear directly from women from a range of backgrounds and their experience accessing treatment.

Endometriosis

We’ll deliver an extra 10,800 extra laparoscopy surgeries for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis and associated condition over four years. These initiatives build on existing work across the state supporting women’s health including:

Victoria’s first women’s heart clinic

The Women’s Heart Clinic located at The Alfred is Victoria’s first women’s heart clinic and only the second in Australia to be established.

A state-wide healthcare initiative of Alfred Health, this clinic was established in recognition of the often-underdiagnosed heart conditions that occur in women and, therefore, aims to increase awareness and education among the community and healthcare workers about women’s cardiovascular risk and heart disease.

WREN – the women’s recovery network

This transformative mental health service – the result of a partnership between Alfred Health, Ramsay Mental Health and Goulburn Valley Health – will support more than 750 Victorian women each year with a range of complex conditions, including those who have experienced trauma and sexual abuse, eating disorders and women experiencing perinatal mental health issues.

Featuring 24 acute inpatient mental health places at Ramsay Clinic Albert Rd, Melbourne, the Wren service model was co-designed in consultation with women with lived experience and will help ease pressure on the public system by delivering care for public patients in a private setting.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System heard that many women face gender-based harm or abuse in the mental health system and recommended a specific service for women, ensuring gender and sexual safety for women in acute inpatient settings. •

A remarkable 131 individuals with lived experience actively participated in the co-design consultation, alongside key organisations such as Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), Tandem, Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV), and Women’s Health Victoria.

Nina Taylor is the Victorian MP for the seat of Albert Park.