Advocacy

Women's Health Services Advocacy for 2024 Budget

Over the past three years, the Women's Health Services Network (WHSN) and individual Women's Health Services (WHS) CEOs and teams have initiated and maintained a strong, coordinated lobbying campaign to secure and sustain essential funding. The following are the key highlights of this extensive and impactful advocacy effort:

1.Funding Boost and Core Funding Increase:

• In 2021-2022, the WHSN successfully lobbied for a one-year funding boost of $200,000.
• Continued lobbying efforts effectively doubled our core funding for the two-year period of 2022-2024.

In preparation for the 2024-25 Victorian State Budget, the Women’s Health Services Network prepared a report outlining its network-wide collective impact, Small change, big impact Women’s Health Services Network collective impact report, to impress upon its funders:

• The unique role of the women’s health sector in Victoria’s health system.
• The role of health promotion and primary prevention within the health system in reducing demand on clinical and response services and keeping Victorians healthier and safer.
• The ways in which the sector’s work drives a more equitable Victorian health system.
• How the sector leads best practice evidence-based partnerships and projects to deliver effective and economically efficient activities across every region of the state.
• The significant value investing in the sector’s people, plans and systems brings to the health and wellbeing of Victorians.

The Network also put forward a business case demonstrating the collective impact and economic value of our work. The business case called for the continuation of the $19.4 million funding uplift provided over the past two years and requested annual indexing to keep pace with projected growth in the population of Victorian women.

The budget included $18.3 million over two years to continue the lapsing funding uplifts, along with a recommitment to our core funding. While this additional funding is appreciated, it falls short of the previous uplift, necessitating the scaling back of programs across the sector.

Read the gender analysis of the 2024-25 Victorian State Budget to find out more

2. Women’s Health in the House Events:

• Hosted the inaugural Women's Health in the House event in September 2022, sponsored by the Minister for Health.
• Hosted a subsequent Women's Health in the House event in October 2023, also sponsored by the Minister for Health.

3. Brand Development and Online Presence:

• Developed a brand and established the WHSN website to enhance visibility and outreach.

4. Government Engagement and Advocacy:

• Invited by the Departments of Health and Families, Fairness and Housing (DH/DFFH) to provide input into the CUBE lapsing program report, submitted to Treasury via DH/DFFH in mid-2023.
• Presented to the full Labour Party Caucus in August 2023 with the support of the Women’s Caucus.
• Engaged Dr. Angela Jackson to create our departmental budget using Treasury guidelines, submitted to DH/DFFH in October 2023 for submission to Treasury.
• Produced and launched a public-facing version of the budget bid, the Return on Equity Report, in November 2023.

5. Parliament House Events:

• Ran a successful three-day event at Parliament House, Queens Hall, in March 2024, showcasing the work and impact of WHS.

6. Departmental and Organisational Adaptation:

• Managed relationships through significant restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, as it was split into DH and DFFH in 2021-2022.
• Maintained effective relationships during the transition of the Office for Women from the Department of Premier and Cabinet to DFFH.
• Navigated changes and maintained advocacy efforts despite significant staff cuts in DH/DFFH following the May 2023 budget.

These efforts reflect the dedication and strategic coordination of the WHSN and WHS teams in advocating for sustained and increased funding to support vital women's health services across Victoria. The ongoing advocacy and engagement with key stakeholders, government departments, and the broader community are crucial to ensuring the continued impact and growth of our services.