27 June 2023
The Women’s Health Services Network have released their assessment of the 2023-2024 Victorian State Budget. The assessment scorecard evaluates the Victorian State Budget against the priority areas of the Women’s Health Services:
· Promote primary prevention and health promotion for all Victorians.
· Deliver to all women and girls in Victoria, access to safe and high quality sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion healthcare, across the life course.
· Deliver investment in culturally safe, gender equitable mental healthcare and investment in the primary prevention of mental illness for women and girls.
· Invest in health services and programs based on data and evidence to address a broad range of women’s health issues
The scorecard welcomes the continued investment and work to advance gender responsive budgeting, welcomes the significant investment in women’s health clinics and support programs, the additional services for women’s sexual and reproductive health and mental health hubs.
Looking into the future, the Women’s Health Services Network look forward to working with the government to ensure that gender and intersectional disaggregated data is utilised across all areas of Victoria’s health system , that the implementation of mental health reforms address systemic intersectional gender inequity in our mental health system and sustained support and investment in primary prevention and health promotion that addresses the diverse needs of the community. You can read the scorecard here.