March 2017
In the Spotlight
WHIN Members Celebrated International Women’s Day 2017
On Thursday 9 March over 100 WHIN members came together to celebrate International Women’s Day at our morning tea and screening of Hidden Figures at Hoyts in Northland. WHIN staff were delighted to celebrate with such a vibrant and diverse group of women from across the region.
Dr Regina Quiazon (pictured above left), Senior Research and Policy Advocate at Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, introduced the movie. Regina used her expert knowledge to speak to the intersection of race and gender as shown in the movie, and as it relates to violence prevention and sexual and reproductive health today.
WHIN would like to warmly thank the following organisations for their generous sponsorship of this event:
- Northland Centre Management
- Inner North Community Foundation
- City of Whittlesea
- Northcote Plaza
WHIN at Work
Family Violence and Gambling Forum: Information for Local Government
In late February over 70 people attended the ‘Family Violence and Gambling: Information for Local Government’ forum. The forum was held by WHIN in partnership with ReSpin, the Victorian Local Governance Association, and the Cities of Moreland, Darebin and Whittlesea.
The forum was designed to raise awareness of the link between family violence and gambling and to provide information about how local governments can work to prevent family violence in communities where harm from gambling also exists. Local government can play an important role in applying a public health approach to the co-existence of gambling and family violence and work to move the focus away from the notion of ‘problem gambling’ as individual responsibility to thinking about how gambling related harm affects the whole community.
A range of speakers addressed the forum including the Mayor of the City of Moreland, Cr Helen Davidson, Dr Anglea Rintoul from the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Bella Sharma, a survivor of family violence, Jade Blakkarly from Crossroads Family Violence Service, and Dr Susan Rennie and Kelvin Thomson from the Alliance For Gambling Reform. The speakers covered a range of issues including the application of a public health approach to gambling, current research exploring the co-existence of the two issues and suggested strategies for inclusion in the Council Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans.
At the forum WHIN CEO Helen Riseborough launched two new resources that WHIN has produced to support this area of work:
Understanding the Link between Family Violence and Gambling: Information for Local Government; and
Snapshot of the Link between Family Violence and Gambling: Information for Local Government. Both these resources are available on the WHIN website.
For more information contact Sandra Morris at
sandram@whin.org.au or 9484 1666.
Gender Equity in the Early Years: Intentional Play Space
On Friday 17 March the Darebin North East Community Hub was arranged into a gender equity play space. The creation of this intentional play space was part of a larger piece of work that Darebin Council is undertaking in partnership with WHIN to look at the role of the early years sector in advancing gender equity and preventing violence against women.
In addition to the play space, Annie Douglass from WHIN had the opportunity to present to the early childhood educators in attendance and participate in an informative panel discussion with early childhood experts, Dr Kylie Smith and Louise Dorrat.
The session provided some great insights into the various ways gender norms play a role in children’s development. It highlighted the gendered nature of children’s lives, and how we can all work to undo some of the constraints and limitations that gender stereotypes place on them.
If you would like to know more about WHIN's work in the area of gender equity in the early years, contact Annie Douglass at
annied@whin.org.au or 9484 1666.
LGBTI Communities and Emergencies in Victoria
The Gender and Disaster (GAD) Pod, led by WHIN’s Deb Parkinson, held a successful workshop this month with approximately 30 senior leaders of Victoria’s Emergency Management sector as part of its research into ‘Identifying the experiences and needs of LGBTI communities before, during and after emergencies in Victoria’. Liam Leonard, Director of Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria, led this highly engaging workshop and those present contributed to the further development of recommendations drafted by the GAD Pod team and Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria in response to interim findings. Keep an eye out for the final research report in May 2017.
For other research, information and training on this topic, see:
For more information about WHIN's GAD work contact Dr Deb Parkinson at
debrap@whin.org.au or 9484 1666.
Now Recruiting Workforce Development Worker, 3 April 2017
WHIN is seeking to appoint a Workforce Development Worker to the Northern Integrated Family Violence Services Coordination Team. This flexible part-time role offers the opportunity to use highly developed training and communication skills to strengthen responses to family violence across a range of workforces in the northern metropolitan region.
Following the Royal Commission into Family Violence, the Victorian Government acknowledged the importance of workforce development in ‘Ending Family Violence: Victoria’s Plan for Change’. This role will help drive this priority area in the northern metropolitan region.
A position description, which includes application details and key selection criteria, can be downloaded
here.
Send your applications to
info@whin.org.au by 9.00 am on Monday 3 April 2017. Applications received after 9.00 am, and applications that do no address the key selection criteria, will not be considered.
For further information contact Sarah Johnson, Regional Integration Coordinator at
sarahj@whin.org.au or 03 9484 1666.
WHIN holds equal opportunities exemption A114/2012 – this position is open to women only.
Women's Wellbeing
Launch of Victorian Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Key Priorities 2017-2020
The
Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health: Key Priorities 2017-2020 action plan was launched on 8 March 2017 by the Hon. Jill Hennessy MP Minister for Health.
This is the first ever Victorian government sexual and reproductive health (SRH) action plan of its kind. The plan commits $6.6 million in funding to take action to improve access to affordable, effective and safe contraception and termination of pregnancy, tackle rising rates of chlamydia amongst young women, and better manage reproductive health issues such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.
The $6.6 million investment to support the plan commits to:
- establish a new state-wide pregnancy support telephone hot line
- create eight new community based family planning hubs, four of which will be based in regional Victoria
- develop a new app to support the work of the Centre of Excellence in polycystic ovary syndrome
- provide free facial hair laser treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome
- deliver family planning training for doctors and nurses, particularly in regional Victoria
- support the continued roll out of endometriosis resources
- work with Aboriginal women and women with disabilities to improve sexual and reproductive health.
The release of the action plan is very exciting and provides a state-wide policy framework that supports WHIN’s own SRH work and the implementation of the regional SRH Strategy:
A Strategy For Going South In the North 2016-2021.
For more information about WHIN’s SRH work contact Lucy Forwood at
lucyf@whin.org.au or 9484 1666.
Celebrating the Success of the Victorian Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program
On Thursday 16 March the Celebrating the Success of the Victorian Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP) forum was held. The forum was a great opportunity to come together and celebrate the 19th birthday of the program. The FARREP program has not only been pivotal to Victorian efforts to eradicate Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGM/C), but also contributes to national and international evidence on how best to do this work. The program is delivered by a dedicated team of professionals who are leaders in their own diverse communities and who engage with their communities in culturally appropriate ways to effect change. Forum presenters spoke about the successes of the program, the current work program, and also about the development of strategies for future work.
The forum also provided an opportunity to come together and acknowledge the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. The World Health Organisation estimates that 100-140 million women and girls worldwide have undergone the practice of FGC with approximately three million girls subjected to the practice each year.
If you would like to know more about WHIN’s FARREP work contact Intesar Homed at
intesarh@whin.org.au or 9484 1666.
