Since my last update, the Women’s Health Matters team have delivered significant pieces of work, as well as continuing to run our current major projects. 

One of the biggest achievements of the last quarter was the completion and launch of the report on the 2025 Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT. The report was launched on 9 September at an event attended by ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith, as well as over 60 representatives from across numerous health and community organisations and government directorates. Themes and data from the report have already been used in several articles covering topics ranging from coercive control, to endometriosis treatment, to menopause. ABC news also covered the release of the report in both print and tv news segments. We anticipate that the report will continue to inform discussions on women’s health, wellbeing, and safety issues moving forward. The full report is available on the Women’s Health Matters website. I’d like to thank the Snow Foundation for funding the survey and ACT Health and Community Services Directorate for our ongoing core funding, as well as all our partner organisations who promoted the survey, enabling us to get such inclusive representation of women (cis and trans inclusive) in the ACT 

Our staff also participated in the Women’s Health Week event hosted by the ACT Office for Women on 4 September, and were pleased to speak with ACT Government employees about our work across research, advocacy, and education in the women’s health and wellbeing space. Also during Women’s Health Week, our Health in My Language team hosted an information sharing and networking morning tea for stakeholders and colleagues in the multicultural women’s health and wellbeing space. It was wonderful to see so many organisations engage with our bilingual health education team and their work, and to lay the foundations for future collaborations. 

In August, Women’s Health Matters was one of more than a dozen organisations who co-signed Sexual Health Advocates for Reproductive Equity’s (SHARE) open letter to parliament campaigning for Universal Access to Contraception. This issue impacts women across many aspects of life, not simply the prevention of pregnancy. Access to contraception translates to better health, social, educational, and financial outcomes for people with reproductive capacity and empowers individuals to plan pregnancies, manage pelvic pain or other health conditions (such as perimenopause, organ transplant, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, adenomyosis), access education, work productively and thrive in all aspects of life. Unfortunately for many, the cost of preferred contraception methods is prohibitive, as highlighted in our Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT (page 74). This is why I’m proud to have supported this call for universal access.  

Our current programs and projects, including Health in My Language, the Victim Survivor Voice project, My Pregnancy Options, and the Reproductive Health Data Incentive Fund are all progressing well. For more details, please look at the updates below. You’ll also see we are currently recruiting for new Board members! This is a great opportunity to contribute to an organisation that works tirelessly to improve women’s health and wellbeing outcomes in the ACT. Find out more below! 

Finally, I am pleased to announce our new-look website will be launching over the weekend. The new site features better accessibility controls and features, a revamped colour palette, and clearer menu options. Content will also continue to be updated over the coming months, so be sure to check it out. 

Thanks again to our funders and supporters who enable us to continue to research, educate, and advocate for better health and wellbeing outcomes for women in the ACT.