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Women's Health Grampians Newsletter
September 2017
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Vale Fiona Richardson
We were shocked and very saddened to learn of the sudden death of Fiona Richardson, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Violence. The many tributes that flowed after her death highlighted her unstinting commitment to gender equality and family violence prevention and the determination with which she pursued these goals. She was dedicated to ensuring the voices of those affected were heard, their views taken on board in policy and service planning, and we see that reflected in the co-design approach to the implementation of the Report of Royal Commission into Family Violence.
We experienced her consultative approach first hand on her visits to the Grampians region. In late 2015 she visited informally to hear first hand the issues in the region (pictured). Many people would have met her when she visited Ararat in 2016 as part of the Gender Equality Consultation.
We will greatly miss Minister Richardson’s leadership, drive and sincerity. Her legacy is enormous and we will strive to work towards her vision of a world where women and children live free from discrimination and violence. We extend sincere condolences to her family, friends and dedicated staff.
Marianne Hendron, CEO, Women's Health Grampians
Pictured: Katherine Gillespie (WHG Chair), Marianne Hendron (CEO), The Hon Fiona Richardson, Darlene Henning-Marshall (WHG Program Manager) at Drummond Street, September 2015
Wimmera Leading Change Breakfast: 22 August 2017
130 people joined us at the Horsham Town Hall for the Wimmera Leading Change Breakfast to talk about the importance of on taking action to prevent violence against women.
Kate Jenkins, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner spoke about gender inequality as the cause of violence against women, the importance of changing attitudes, and, the need for multiple initiatives in high impact places such as schools or workplaces. She reminded us "Every single one of you can make a difference.. ..it isn’t just the bosses, employers, coaches of footy clubs. It is every single person!”
 
*|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Read More *|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Horsham resident Simone O’Brien spoke of her personal experience of intimate partner violence and her lengthy path to recovery; including the work she is now doing to raise awareness about domestic violence, about the importance of active bystanders, and of women not being afraid to seek help.
Phil Cleary spoke about changes over the last 30 years and how we still have much to do. Phil stressed how our workplaces, sporting clubs and institutions can not tolerate, or be complicit in, behaviour that condones violence against women.
David Lavithis gave examples of what VicRoads is doing to address the drivers of violence against women: reviewing language used on custom licence plates; requirements for contractors to have policies that support diversity and training and induction of new staff.
Full audio of the event and a short video will be available on our website in the near future. Thanks to Department of Justice and Regulation, Horsham Rural City Council, Wimmera PCP, Uniting Wimmera and Barwon CASA for supporting this important event. *|END:IF|*
Grampians Community of Practice PVAW: 27 July 2017
Equality & Respect for Everyone: Supporting Diversity and Inclusion explored the importance of creating environments were people of all backgrounds and identities feel welcome, valued and included. Often women from diverse backgrounds are over represented in family violence statistics *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Read More *|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* and face greater levels of oppression and discrimination, yet can be those given least consideration in prevention efforts. This session heard local women's personal experiences of diversity, the good, the bad and what can be done by others to support inclusion for marginalised groups. Michael Walker from Department of Health & Human Services explained how you can use universal design principles as a way to make physical environments, products and services more accessible and usable. A great day with a full house of over 54 attendees, wide-spread membership from 33 diverse organisations including education; state departments; government, justice and legal; community health services; and local councils. See our website for a discussion paper. *|END:IF|*
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Last chance to register:
Grampians Community of Practice 13 September 2017
Understand media and communications as a powerful tool for influencing social change in preventing violence against women. Including a practical workshop by Domestic Violence Victoria (DVVic) RSVP by 8 September
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Enabling Women Leadership Program: Central Highlands
Announcing Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV) will bring the Enabling Women Leadership Program to Central Highlands. This community leadership program empowers women with disabilities to address social challenges and rise to their true leadership and advocacy potential.
WDV is looking for facilitators, participants and mentors *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Read More *|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* The program is open to women with a disability living, working or studying in the council areas of Ballarat, Moorabool, Hepburn and Golden Plains and will run during October - November in Ballarat. This program is being offered in partnership with City of Ballarat, Moorabool Shire Council, Golden Plains Shire Council, Grampians disAbility Advocacy and Women’s Health Grampians. Click here for details about information sessions, vacancies and applications. *|END:IF|*
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WHG Annual General Meeting
Save the Date: 14 November 2017
Our 2017 Annual General Meeting will take place in Horsham Golf Club 11:00AM-2:00PM Tuesday 14 November. Stay tuned for an announcement of further information and speakers. We are looking forward to seeing many old and new faces at this significant event in our calendar. Invitations will go out in the coming weeks. As part of the AGM we look to fill Board vacancies and invite WHG members to consider nominating. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Read More *|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* We have 2 vacancies this year. Board terms are for 2 years with the option to re-nominate. We are particularly keen to have women from diverse backgrounds and all abilities, and those living outside the Central Highlands part of the Grampians region - we have technology to enable remote participation. Board members are well supported with induction and training opportunities.
If you are interested please contact Marianne Hendron on 5322 4100 *|END:IF|*
Myer Ballarat Charity Partner
WHG has been the Myer Ballarat Charity Partner for the past 12 months. Over that time the Ballarat store raised almost $1,800. Myer Community Fund matches this amount, so we gratefully receive $3,595 which will be put towards CoRE Plan implementation activities. Thank you Myer, and the community for your generous support!
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Updates across the region
Grampians Communities of Respect and Equality (CoRE) Alliance
Building CoRE Membership with Sporting Clubs: Announcing a new Community in Partnerships in Prevention Project.
Local Story: Learn more about what Ballarat Golf Club are doing to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality, and Gathering Baseline Data for Evaluating Gender Inequality in the Grampians region *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*Read More*|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*
Building CoRE with Sporting Clubs Project: through funding received by the Department of Premiere and Cabinet’s ‘Community Partnerships in Prevention’ Grants Program WHG will look to engage local sporting clubs in the Central Highlands region to sign onto CoRE. This work acknowledges the connection sport has with the community and the potential to influence attitudes to prevent violence against women. The project is in its infancy and we look forward to working with sporting clubs over the coming months.
Ballarat Golf Club Local Story: signing on to CoRE in December 2016, BGC was one of our first 50 members. Proactively promoting gender equality, the golf club has come leaps and bounds with changing the status quo for women including: their first female Vice-President in the 122 year history of the club; and opening time-sheets on Wednesday and Saturday to allow both men and women to enjoy full and equal access to the course. We captured their story and detailed the challenges and enablers the club have faced along its journey. Click here to read more
Evaluation: as part of comprehensive long term evaluation WHG is collecting baseline data for gender inequality in the Grampians region.This will enable us to provide a snapshot of the current situation, track long term changes and highlight the need for further action to promote gender equality via CoRE. The baseline report is due to be released in late 2017.
In line with the Settings for Action outlined in the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy the project will gather data on: education, economic participation, leadership and decision making, unpaid labour, sport and recreation, transport, and health.
For further information, please contact Sascha Davies, master of social work student on placement with WHG at volunteer@whg.org.au .
If you would like help with identifying what your organisation can do, please contact your Regional Consultant at WHG. *|END:IF|*
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Regional: Central Highlands
We welcome Ballarat Health Services to the CoRE Alliance. We look forward to working with you more closely to promote gender equality.
Department of Education & Training Respectful Relationships Forum: schools explored the topic of how to engage men and boys in prevention work. The audience heard from many agencies including No to Violence, Victoria Legal Aid, HeadSpace, Western Bulldogs Community Foundation and WHG, building the knowledge of the first schools involved in rolling out the Respectful Relationships curriculum.
HeadSpace Arms & Armour Program: creating a safe space for men to talk about what it means to be male in today’s society. Dee Micevski was invited to chat about what gender means and how it affects men and women. A well received project, we hope it continues!
Zonta ‘Young Women in Public Affairs’ Awards Night: recognising emerging female leaders *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*Read More*|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* in Years 11-12 who are empowering other women in their local community or school. Zonta invited Dee as a guest speaker, sharing her journey of coming to the women’s health sector and why she works to empower women at WHG. Kate Lyons from Ballarat Clarendon College won the award for her work in music and sport, where her band donates money to aid organisations and where she works to increase female participation at her local soccer club. Kate will now go on as a nominee in the International award!
For more information or support in this region, please contact Dee Micevski at dee@whg.org.au or 5322 4100. *|END:IF|*
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Pictured: Zonta Ballarat President, Catherine Taylor with Kate Lyons, Ballarat and Clarendon College |
Regional: Grampians Pyrenees
Council’s in the region have continued to focus on Municipal Health and Wellbeing Planning, with the Northern Grampians Shire currently seeking public submissions on their draft plan.
Grampians Pyrenees region will host our next Community of Practice event in Beaufort on 13 September 2017. This session will focus on developing media and communications strategies and key messages for preventing violence against women. Everyone is welcome to attend, including media and communications staff, please register here.
Congratulations to the Stawell Neighbourhood House on recently becoming a CoRE Member. The Neighbourhood House is a community leader in Stawell providing support and training to community members.
For more information or support in this region, please contact Kate Diamond-Keith at kate@whg.org.au or 5322 4100.
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Regional: Wimmera
Act@Work Action Plans have been finalised in Hindmarsh Shire, Horsham Rural City, West Wimmera Shire and Yarriambiack Shire. These Councils are now working to implement actions they identified in the areas of prevention of violence against women and gender equity. Melissa Morris and Horsham Rural City Council Director of Community Services Kevin O’Brien presented on the Wimmera Act@Work program at the recent Municipal Association of Victoria Prevention of Violence Against Women Showcase. Ten projects were showcased and MAV now have a great variety of resources available for Council’s on projects ranging from gender equity in sports, infrastructure, recruitment and more.
This council roll-out of Act@Work represents a geographical spread of over 28,000 Sq km. It has been a successful initiative, producing fantastic results. We look forward to continuing our work to support these Council's as members of the CoRE Alliance.
We are busy delivering Act@Work with Uniting Wimmera and look forward to developing an Action Plan over the coming months. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*Read More*|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*
We are very pleased to welcome our new CoRE members Rainbow Neighbourhood House and GWMWater.
The Wimmera Leading Change Breakfast provided a great community forum to raise awareness of the prevalence of violence against women and the importance of taking action as individuals, groups and workplaces to address gender inequity in the Wimmera.
For more information or support in this region, please contact Melissa Morris melissa@whg.org.au or Annette Jones annette@whg.org.au. *|END:IF|*
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Pictured: Melissa Morris (WHG) with Kevin O'Brien (Horsham Rural City Council) |
Act@Work is an organisation-wide cultural-change program for workplaces. The aim is to address the underlying causes of violence against women: sexism, discrimination and gender inequality using a systems approach in workplace setting. If you would like more information contact Darlene Henning-Marshall on 5322 4100.
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Sexual & Reproductive Health
Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans
In recently months WHG have welcomed the opportunity to work with Horsham Rural City Council and Moorabool Shire Council who are including Sexual and Reproductive Health in their Draft Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans for the first time. As a regional partner we seek to support councils with data, knowledge and evidence for taking action to improve rural and regional access to sexual health services that support women's reproductive choices. We see opportunities for Councils to promote sexual and reproductive health *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*Read More*|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* in their communities through Youth and Maternal & Child Health Services providing access to information, support and referral.*|END:IF|*
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Research: Unintended Pregnancy Study in Grampians, Pyrenees and Wimmera regions
We eagerly await Melbourne University's presentation of research findings planned for 19 September. WHG will work closely with our regional reference group to consider the report recommendations and actions for further advocacy, planning, training and service development in the Grampians region. For more please contact Shannon Hill on shannon@whg.org.au or 5322 4100. |
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International Safe Abortion Day: 28 September
28 September is an annual day of international action in support of the right to safe abortion. Here in Victoria the Government recently acknowledged "Improving access to affordable sexual and reproductive health services is especially important in regional and rural Victoria, where the service gap is particularly pronounced" and leads to poorer health outcomes for women.
Despite having legislation in Victoria to ensure women have the right to exercise reproductive choices, studies indicate rural women often pay more and travel further to access abortion services. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* Read More*|END:IF|* *|IF:ARCHIVE_PAGE|*
WHG believe in and advocate for rural and regional women to have services that support their reproductive choices as close as possible to where they live. We invite you to join the campaign and consider ways we can reduce the barriers to access for women in the Grampians region. *|END:IF|*
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SRH Resources
CERSH Rural Sexual Health Care Online Learning, the Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health recently launched nine free and accredited modules include topics such as: sexual history taking, youth, trust, and privacy, STI treatment, management and contract tracing, avoiding sexuality assumptions and increasing access for sexual health care.
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RESEARCH: Calling for Participants
Do you have early or premature menopause?
or POI (premature/primary ovarian insufficiency)?
20-54 years? Living in Victoria?
WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
The research team would like to understand what it's like to be diagnosed, experiences with symptoms, health professionals, your wellbeing, relationships, fertility. Information gathered will be used to produce a resource to support women with early or premature menopause. Research is being conducted by RMIT University, the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (Monash University) and other partners. Read more
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VicSport Leap and Lead Program
Congratulations to Rachel Murphy, Project Coordinator at Sports Central on her recent graduation from the VicSport Leap and Lead Program. Rachel was one of 16 women from various sporting organisations who participated in the program to develop leadership capacity of female sports administrators. Rachel’s project focussed on the development of a gender equality strategy for her organisation.
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Rachel receiving her certificate from Minister for Sport, Tom Eren MP, and Chair of VicSport, Margot Foster AM |
Victorian Rural Women's Network
Victoria’s first female Minister for Agriculture, the Hon Jaala Pulford MP, proudly announced the relaunch of the Rural Women’s Network in July. This aims to promote women’s economic participation, professional development and wellbeing through information, networking and mentoring opportunities.
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Grant Opportunity: Overcoming Isolation
The Channel is seeking expressions of interest from projects fostering connectivity and increasing opportunities for participation for members of rainbow communities in rural and regional areas. $5,000 grant EOI close 15 September 2017
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Walk for Equality: Saturday 9 September
Ballarat Pride Hub and Ballarat Trades and Labour Council are hosting a fun-filled Family Day, speeches, face painting, children's art class, and a colourful, happy walk through the the Botanic Gardens in support of Marriage Equality and the #SayYes campaign.
1PM North Gardens Rotunda, Cnr Nursery Dr & Wendouree Pde Lake Wendouree
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Reclaim the Night: Friday 3 November
Bring: Hope, Enthusiasm, Drums, Whistles, Banners,
Glow Sticks, Torches!
Start at 7PM at Alfred Deakin Place
Finish at Trades Hall
Hear Speeches from Local Representatives
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