Victorian Women's Health Services Network Conference 2025: A Watershed Moment for Gender Equality and Women's Health
The 2025 Victorian Women's Health Services Network Conference, held on 13th February at Melbourne Town Hall, marked a defining moment in our collective mission to advance gender equality and transform women's health outcomes across Victoria. This gathering of sector leaders, practitioners, and advocates demonstrated both the urgency of our work and the extraordinary resilience of our sector in driving systemic change.
In this spirit of shared vision for improving Women’s Health, the conference heard from parliamentarians, Kat Theophanous MP and Georgie Crozier MP. Both affirmed the critical legacy and ongoing importance of women's health advocacy while engaging in vital discussions about the challenges we face in sustaining this essential work.
Our Path Forward: A Call for Transformative Action
The momentum generated at this conference demands immediate, coordinated action. We call upon our partners, stakeholders, and communities to join us in implementing four interconnected strategic priorities that will reshape the landscape of women's health services in Victoria:
Cultivating Communities of Excellence We must establish robust Communities of Practice that harness our collective wisdom in preventing violence against women, advancing disability justice, and deepening bicultural engagement. The conference revealed an urgent need for structured networking opportunities that bridge rural and metropolitan services, ensuring no community is left behind in our pursuit of health equity.
Transforming and Decolonising Policy and Resource Allocation Our sector stands united in demanding evaluation frameworks that honour women's lived experiences and there stories equitably. The evidence is clear: sustained investment in bicultural workers, disability advocates, and lived experience leaders is not optional – it is fundamental to transformative service delivery. The conference powerfully demonstrated that these roles are the cornerstone of effective, culturally safe services.
Scaling Prevention with Purpose The deep curiosity and demand for practical strategies in engaging men in preventing violence against women must be met with bold action. We envision a Victoria where men are actively engaged in prevention through intersectional approaches that recognize the complex interplay of gender, culture, and power. Our primary prevention strategies must evolve to meaningfully embrace and empower CALD, disability, and LGBTIQ+ communities.
Building True Accessibility and Inclusion We commit to embedding comprehensive accessibility and inclusion from conception to implementation. The conference highlighted that ensuring AusLan interpretation, First Nations perspectives, and trans inclusion cannot be afterthoughts – they must be foundational to our service design. We must invest in workforce development that guarantees culturally safe, trauma-informed, and truly inclusive health services for all who need them.
The Road Ahead
The challenges before us are substantial, but so too is our collective determination and capability. The conference demonstrated that the Victorian Women's Health Services sector possesses both the vision and the strategic capability to drive meaningful change. Our work in elevating lived experience, strengthening intersectional approaches, and leading prevention initiatives has already shown remarkable impact.
The time for action is now. The momentum from our conference must be translated into tangible changes that improve the lives of women and gender-diverse people across Victoria. Together, we can and must create a future where every Victorian has access to the comprehensive, inclusive health services they deserve.
We call on all partners friends and allies of the women’s health movement across Victoria to join us in this crucial next phase of our journey toward health justice and gender equity. The future of women's health in Victoria depends on our collective action today.