About the Women's Health and Wellbeing Program

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 drives better health outcomes. Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Every girl and woman deserves 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, the Department of Health is leading the delivery of a $153.9 million package over 4 years to change the way women's health issues are treated. This will expand upon the Victorian Government's current investment in women's health promotion services, access to information, sexual and reproductive health services, primary care sentinel practices, public hospital specialist clinics, and initiatives aimed at healthcare recruitment and training.

The Victorian Women's Health Advisory Council oversees this investment in women's health, providing independent expert advice on the delivery of the program.

The delivery of the Women's Health and Wellbeing package includes the following initiatives:

Women's Health Clinics

The establishment of 20 new Women's Health Clinics over 4 years to address service access barriers faced by women, girls and gender diverse people.

The Women's Health Clinics provide multidisciplinary, quality healthcare under one roof, enabling women to access services or advice on issues from contraception and abortion care to endometriosis, pelvic pain and menopause.

The first 10 Women's Health Clinics have commenced operation at:

• Barwon Health – Geelong
• Grampians Health – Ballarat/Stawell/Horsham
• Peninsula Health – Frankston
• Northern Health – Epping
• Royal Women's Hospital – Parkville
• Central Highlands Rural Health – Kyneton
• Eastern Health – Blackburn
• Goulburn Valley Health – Shepparton
• Monash Health – Clayton
• Western Health – Sunshine

An additional 5 Women's Health Clinics will soon open at:

• Bendigo Health – Bendigo
• Latrobe Regional Health – Traralgon
• Mildura Base Hospital – Mildura
• Northeast Health – Wangaratta
• Southwest Health– Warrnambool

Learn more about the Women's Health Clinics.

Mobile Women's Health Clinic

The Department of Health has partnered with BreastScreen Victoria to deliver a sexual and reproductive health outreach service in regional and remote Victoria.

The Mobile Women's Health Clinic provides high quality and inclusive sexual and reproductive health services closer to home. This includes:

• contraception
• sexual health testing and treatment
• referral for medical and surgical abortion
• support with women's healthcare and system navigation
• breast screening services.

Free and confidential appointments are available for girls, women and gender diverse people living in regional and rural Victoria.

The Mobile Women's Health Clinic builds upon BreastScreen Victoria's existing mobile breast screening program.

Learn more about the Mobile Women's Health Clinic.

Virtual Women's Health Clinic

The Department of Health has partnered with community health organisation Each to deliver a Virtual Women's Health Clinic offering free, expert medical advice and care via telehealth.

Women and gender diverse people accessing the service via phone or video consultation are connected to a specialist nurse who will provide an initial health assessment and treatment, and, if required, connect patients with a GP, specialist, or other health practitioner as close to home as possible.

The Virtual Women's Health Clinic provides sexual and reproductive health services including contraception and medical abortion. It also offers specialist services for endometriosis and pelvic pain care, menstrual health, perimenopause and menopause care, breast health care, and cervical screening.

Learn more about the Virtual Women's Health Clinic.

Aboriginal Women's Health Clinic

First Peoples' Health and Wellbeing is delivering an Aboriginal Women's Health Clinic providing free, comprehensive and culturally safe care to Aboriginal women and girls.

The clinic provides a range of services to Aboriginal women including screening, diagnosis, and treatment of women's health conditions including pelvic pain, endometriosis and menopause, long-acting reversible contraception, and pregnancy choices.

Additionally, the Aboriginal Women's Health Clinic provides education to increase Aboriginal women's understanding of their own bodies, fostering self-determination in health and wellbeing, and promoting Aboriginal women's health literacy.

The service is operational from mid-2025 from the First Peoples' Health and Wellbeing Thomastown and Frankston locations and works closely with other health services across the state to provide streamlined care, referral pathways and education.

Learn more about the Aboriginal Women's Health Clinic.

Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Hubs

The establishment of 9 additional Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Hubs, bringing the total number of hubs to 20 statewide. All Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Hubs are now operational.

The expansion of the hubs improves access to care and provides services such as all types of contraception, including long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), sexually transmissible infection (STI) prevention, testing and treatment, medical abortion and referrals for surgical abortion.

Learn more about the Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Hubs.

Women's Health and Wellbeing Support Groups

$1.8 million is allocated over 4 years for not-for-profit organisations across Victoria to establish 13 women's health and wellbeing support groups aiming to reduce isolation and improve women's mental and physical health and wellbeing.

The support groups were established to support specific community groups including culturally and linguistically diverse groups, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and to address specific health concerns including chronic disease and menopause.

For a list of participating organisations, see Women's Health and wellbeing support groups and programs.

Women's health research initiative

Supporting the creation of a women's health research initiative to identify and treat common health issues such as cardiovascular, and diseases specific to women including endometriosis.

The initiative will establish links with research institutes nationally and internationally, key health services, researchers and clinicians across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria and drive clinical trials in women’s health issues.

The Department of Health aims to work with key partners and invest in research support services to improve women's health outcomes and address sex and gender differences in healthcare.

Inquiry into Women's Pain

The landmark Inquiry into Women’s Pain launched in early 2024 to examine systemic issues and identify solutions aimed at improving pain care and treatment for Victorian women and girls.

As part of the Inquiry’s extensive consultation, 13,000 people shared their experiences of pain, treatment approaches and interactions with the healthcare system. We heard from women and girls with living and lived experiences of pain as well as carers and family members, healthcare professionals, researchers and peak bodies.

Insights gained through the consultation formed the Inquiry into Women’s Pain report Bridging the Gender Pain Gap. The report includes 27 recommendations across seven key reform areas to address gender inequities in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of pain, setting a clear roadmap for reform.

To learn more and read the report, see Inquiry into Women's Pain.

Research support services

Through a competitive process, the Department of Health has funded 15 innovative research projects that further our knowledge of the influence sex and/or gender can have on women’s health conditions and diseases impacting women disproportionately in comparison to the rest of the population.

See Women's Health Research Catalyst Grants to find out more about the research projects.

Primary care sentinel practices

Melbourne Sexual Health Victoria Centre has established 10 private GP practices specialising in the delivery of sexual health services across Victoria. The practices support sexual health prevention, testing, treatment and care.

For more information see Melbourne Sexual Health Centre improves people's sexual health.

Additional laparoscopies

Deliver an additional 10,800 laparoscopies over 4 years to help diagnose and treat debilitating endometriosis, which affets one in every 9 girls and women.

Women's health specialist scholarships

More than 420 women's health scholarships were funded to help upskill the workforce, so women can get the care they need closer to home.

Women's health specialist scholarships improve the skills of healthcare workers, so women and girls can receive more personalised care. Across Victoria, the scholarships supported hundreds of healthcare professionals to further train in areas including IUD insertion, menopause, pelvic pain physiotherapy support and the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).