FAQs for Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT

The survey has now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated, we are excited to share the report later in 2025!

FAQ for 2024-25 survey (now closed)

About us

Women’s Health Matters is a community-based organisation advocating to improve health outcomes and experiences for women in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

What is the aim of the survey?

The aim of this survey is to build our understanding of the real-life experiences, strengths and needs of women in our community.

If you choose to complete this survey, you will be contributing to an evidence base of high-quality, local data about the health and safety of women in the ACT. We will use the insights from the survey to guide our work with governments and service providers to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of all women in the ACT.

How have the survey findings been used so far?

We successfully ran the survey in 2022-23, receiving over 1600 responses. You can read the report here. The findings have been used to:

• Inform and develop new services
• Help government and other funders work out what kinds of health care are most needed in our community, and
• Equip Women’s Health Matters to advocate for better systems to support women’s health.

Who is  eligible do the survey?

This survey
• women and femme-identifying or people who align themselves with this group
• aged 18 years or over, and
• living in the ACT or surrounding regions

You do not have to have done the survey last time. New and repeat responses are equally welcome.

How long will it take?

The survey takes around 15 minutes, depending on how you answer.

When will the survey close?

We plan to close the survey in February 2025.

Prize draw

Everyone who is eligible for the survey and completes it can enter a prize draw to win one of three $100 gift cards. The prizes will be drawn in February 2025.

Before awarding any prizes, we will check to make sure winners are eligible.

What kind of questions does the survey ask?

This survey asks questions about your overall health and wellbeing, using and paying for healthcare services, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, menopause, pregnancy, contraception, violence and safety, income and finances.

Because some of these topics are sensitive, we suggest you do the survey in a private space and at a time when you will feel comfortable and safe. Consider using the support options here.

You can see all the questions by downloading the survey here.

How will we collect and manage information through the survey?

Women’s Health Matters keeps personal information secure in line with our Privacy Policy. The survey does not ask for your name, and any information that we share or publish from the survey will have identifying details removed. The identity of the respondents will be kept strictly confidential. 

More details:

• If you wish to enter the prize draw you will need to give us an email address so that we can contact you if you win. We will delete these email addresses from our records after the prizes are awarded.
• While the survey does not require you to tell us any information that could identify you, there are text answers in which you could identify yourself without meaning to. We encourage you not to share any details in your answers that could identify yourself or another person.
• The survey platform Qualtrics automatically collects the IP address of the computer or device on which you complete the survey and uses functional browser cookies. These measures enable you to come back and complete the survey later if you wish (within one week), help us prevent people taking the survey multiple times, and assist with data security. Once the survey is closed, we will delete all IP addresses from our records, and browser cookies will expire.
• Women’s Health Matters may enter into research collaborations with organisations such as universities or other non-government organisations. For that purpose we may share de-identified data from the survey with a limited number of people within approved organisations. Restrictions will be placed on the kinds of data usage that will take place through these collaborations, to ensure that the collaborations are consistent with Women’s Health Matters purpose, goals and values, and with our Privacy Policy.

Can I get help to do the survey another way?

Tell us if you need help to do this survey. We can support you in different ways, like:

• we can help you do the survey in a different way. This could mean:

with a pen and paper

on the phone

• Have a person sit with you to explain what the questions mean
• Have a person translate the questions into your language (Cantonese, English, Hindi, Kannada, Khmer, Mandarin, Punjabi and Urdu are available). If you language is not listed, you can give us a call and we can try to help you access an interpreter.

Do I have to complete the survey?

No, it is voluntary. You can stop at any time. When doing the survey online, you can withdraw at any time by closing the browser window, or choosing not to submit the survey. After you press ”submit” at the end it will not be possible to withdraw your response.

Acknowledgments 

Women’s Health Matters is grateful to Snow Foundation for providing funding to support this project. We would also like to acknowledge ACT Health as our core funder, and the other organisations and community members who have helped us develop and promote the survey. Some of the survey questions have been sourced or modified from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and Children by Choice and we appreciate the work of these organisations. 

Contact us 

Women’s Health Matters 

Phone: (02) 6290 2166 

Email: admin@womenshealthmatters.org.au