
FUND WOMEN'S HEALTH IN NSW
Let the NSW State Government know that you support the call for adequate funding of every Women's Health Centre in the 2022-2023 NSW State Budget.
NSW Women's Health Centres are on the brink.
Sign our petition, email your local MP and keep scrolling to read more about our advocacy.

Sign the
Petition
Add your voice to the growing crowd calling for adequate increases to funding of Women's Health Centres in NSW by signing our petition.

Contact
your MP
Let your local MP know that their constituents value the Women's Health Centre in your region. We've even got a letter template for you!

Follow our
Socials
Keep up to date with the mission by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Share your thoughts using #fundwomenshealthnsw
An increase of funding 30 years in the making.
For Women’s Health Centres to deliver vital services, we need a sustainable, properly funded workforce. Funding levels have changed little over 30 years and have not kept pace with CPI. Services are struggling to keep up with growing demand from rapidly increasing community needs.
A picture paints a thousand words...

Funding
Received

What it would look like if funding kept up with CPI

1986
2022
$0.4m
$1m
Australia in 1992
(30 years ago)

Australia had been on the global internet for just 3 years
Read the full pre-budget submission made to the NSW State Government from Women's Health NSW, "Investing in Women's Health" to get more facts about why Women's Health Centres are in urgent need of increased funding.
Sign the Petition
Let the NSW State Government know that you support the call for adequate funding of every Women's Health Centre in the 2022-2023 NSW State Budget by signing our petition!

Write to your local member of Parliament
You can write your own letter or use the template we have made as a guide!
Make sure to edit the red sections with your details to tailor your letter.
Let your local MP know that their constituents expect action on investing in Women's Health Centres across NSW by writing to them on the issue.


Check out these tips on writing to your MP by Oxfam Australia
Don't know your local member or their contacts?
To find out the name of your local member you need to find out which electorate you live in.
Once you know your electorate you can find the name and contact info of your local member.
The role of Women's Health Centres in NSW
Women’s Health NSW is the peak body for 21 non-government community-based women’s health centres in New South Wales.
Our collective mission is to ensure women’s health care is delivered in a gender appropriate, affordable and accessible way designed to meet the health needs of women, trans and gender-non forming people and children.
Women's Health NSW acknowledges that many factors - social, cultural, environmental, economic and biological - influence the health status of women and TGNC people, their need for health services and their ability to access appropriate, affordable and culturally sensitive services.

Women's Health Centres provides a broad range of services, including:
Safety and Empowerment Services
Reproductive
Healthcare
Counselling and
Mental Health Support
Therapeutic and Education Groups
Specialised
Healthcare
Court Advocacy
Services
The History of Women's Health Centres in NSW
In 1973 around the time of International Women’s Day, a forum was held that covered significant issues for women. One of the recommendations from the forum was the need to address the lack of appropriate services for women in the mainstream health system.
In 1974 the federal government granted funds and on International Women’s Day that year in Leichhardt (NSW), and the first women’s health centre in Australia was opened.
Liverpool and Newcastle centres were opened in 1975, in fact new centres were emerging throughout the state. In 1978 centres were running in Wagga Wagga, Bankstown and Gosford. Each centre delivered services according to their community and were run by volunteers. By 1981 the Women’s Health and Information Resource and Crisis Centres Association or WHIRCCA was formed with the aim to create networks and support as well as advocate for other communities trying to establish Women’s Health Centres.
By 1982 the funding was handed to the NSW State Government. By 1986, through the shared work of the association and women in the communities the opening of centres in Blacktown, Penrith and Campbelltown as well as others in rural areas such as Lismore, Bathurst, Illawarra and Katoomba was made possible. WHIRCCA became known as to Women’s Health NSW in 1995.
Women’s Health NSW now represents 21 services throughout NSW; Albury, Bankstown, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Central Coast (Gosford), Central West (Bathurst), Coffs Harbour, Cumberland, Fairfield, Hunter, Illawarra, Leichhardt, Lismore, Liverpool, Penrith, Shoalhaven, Wagga, WILMA (Campbelltown), Full Stop Australia, Sydney Women’s Counselling Campsie and WAMINDA (South Coast Women’s Health & Welfare Aboriginal Co-op).

