With this being our last newsletter for the year, I would like to begin by saying how grateful I am to the Women’s Health Matters team for their dedication and drive to complete the organisation’s work and their tireless commitment to our purpose and values.
As a small organisation, our ability to meet our deliverables and make a meaningful impact hinges on having a team of skilled, passionate staff. This year, our team has delivered above and beyond, with four major policy submissions, two landmark consultation papers on Coercive Control and the Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Strategy and the report on our second Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT.
We have also launched a new-look website, with improved accessibility and navigation features, a new map to allow users to navigate abortion services, health services, and free period product location in the ACT, and a new brand aesthetic.
The Health in My Language team has continued to deliver high impact health education sessions, which include two new topics on mental health and cancer screening. We received funding to develop a new resource on domestic, family and sexual violence for multicultural communities which will be released next year.
After launching the Report for the Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT in September, the team has moved on to more in-depth, thematic analysis, which will play a major role in shaping future activities and projects, including business cases to government for consideration in the FY27 Budget.
The Victim Survivor Voice project continues to contribute to policy development and is moving into phase 2 of the project, and the Reproductive Health Data Incentive Fund has grown to improve access to safe medication abortion in the ACT, with a range of new providers coming on board this year.
Find out more about our projects in the detailed updates below.
Next, I’d like to thank our Board for their leadership throughout the year. In November we held our AGM, where we farewelled Board Chair Mirjana Wilson after six years of service. Thank you Mirjana for your unflagging dedication, passion, and integrity in this role and all you have done for the organisation. We also farewelled board member Jolene Reece, who supported the organisation in this role for 6 years. Thank you Jolene and we wish you luck for your next steps. At the AGM we welcomed Dr Raman Dhaliwal to the board and Leanne Wells has also recently been appointed to the Board. Weare excited to move into the new year with Manasi Ahuja as Chair and Amber Hutchison as Deputy Chair. You can read our Annual Report 2024-25 in full here.
2026 marks Women’s Health Matters 35th Birthday and I am pleased to announce we have lined up events, campaigns, and engagement activities to celebrate, starting with the Hands Across Canberra’s Canberra Day Appeal. Please keep an eye out on our upcoming newsletter and social media accounts to stay up to date with our plans.
Finally, thank you as always to our funders, without whom we could not do our vital research, advocacy, and education. Thank you for enabling us to continue to work towards better health and wellbeing outcomes for all women (cis and trans inclusive) and gender diverse people in the ACT.
From all of the WHM team, I wish you a safe, healthy, and happy end of year break, and look forward to continuing our work in 2026.
Lauren Anthes,
Women’s Health Matters CEO.