About Women's Health Goulburn North East
Women's Health Goulburn North East is the government funded specialist women's health service for the Goulburn Valley and north east Victoria. We are dedicated to promoting the health and well being of all women and to improving the delivery of health and community services for women in our local community.
History
WHGNE was established under Associations Incorporation Act in 2000. Between 1993 and 2000, we operated as NEWomen, a program of Ovens and King Community Health Service.
Purpose
Women's Heath Goulburn North East is a dynamic, feminist organization committed to working in partnership to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of women by:
- Identifying, prioritizing and responding to the health needs of women, focusing on those who are most disadvantaged.
- Raising awareness, influencing behaviour, creating choices and sustainable change through health promotion interventions aimed at preventing illness, injury & disease.
- Changing attitudes and service delivery to women through research and evaluation.
- Providing community education and professional training.
- Providing accessible and relevant health information and referral to women.
- Creating opportunities for women to participate in decision-making.
Our work is underpinned by a social model of health which recognises that a complex array of factors influence a woman's sense of self, health, safety and wellbeing. We acknowledge that many women have limited access to social and economic resources. We respect and affirm diversity among women.
Vision
Equality for women, through challenging inequity and embracing diversity
Values
Principles Underpinning our Work
- A woman's health and sense of her own well being are influenced by a complex array of factors
- Diversity among women should be respected and affirmed
- Greater access to social and economic resources and improved levels of participation in economic and political, cultural, social structures will improve health outcomes for women
- Partnerships and process are essential to the way we work
The Way We Work
Each woman who works at WHGNE brings her own individual values, beliefs and experiences to our organization. One of the organisation’s greatest assets is that we have commonalities as well as differences.
- We take a woman-centred approach
- We are feminist
- We use a social model of health
- We work in many different ways
- We work in partnership
- We aim for sustainable change
- We endorse specialist women's services
- We recognise the experiences of rural women
- We provide direct support for individual women
- We evaluate what we do
For more information on the way we work...
Population Served
WHGNE provides services to a diverse population of women and girls across the Hume Region, particularly those who live in isolated rural areas, are disadvantaged, or are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Hume Region comprises 18% of Victoria in area, some 40,427 square kilometres. It covers 12 local government areas and includes major towns of Wodonga, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Seymour, Mansfield, Benalla.- Moira Shire
- City of Greater Shepparton
- Strathbogie Shire
- Mitchell Shire Council
- Murrindindi Shire
- Benalla Rural City
- Wangaratta Rural City
- Alpine Shire
- Indigo Shire
- Towong Shire
- City of Wodonga
- Mansfield Shire
Activity Overview
We offer a range of services aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of women.
Within a community development framework, we offer women skills training, support advocacy, and assistance to build networks.
For individual women, we provide free information and resources on all aspects of women's health via our specialist library, and refer women to agencies that can meet their other needs.
For service providers and planners, we provide training, information, and assistance with service improvement. We also provide consultancy services on equity, gender and health, including evaluation, planning, and research.
Current Projects : View our current projects in the 'Current Work' section of this website.
Past Activities : View our 'Completed Projects' in the history section of this website.
Staffing
WHGNE's day-to-day operations are overseen by our Executive Officer, who reports to the Board of Management.
We have the equivalent of seven full time paid staff.
We have eight consistent volunteers from a wider pool of about 25.
Our governance structure
WHGNE is governed by a Board of Management, elected by our membership at each Annual General Meeting. The Board comprises women from different backgrounds and communities.
Funding source
WHGNE receives approximately $446,000 (2009/2010) in recurrent funding from the Department of Human Services Community and Women's Health Program.
Our organisation auspices the Hume Region Integrated Family Violence Service System Coordinator position, attracting further annual DHS funds of approximately $188,000 (2009/10).
We receive grants from DHS and other funding bodies for specific projects. (As below.)
Grants in the last five years
- School Youth Focus Support Real Live DVD $34,000 (2009)
- DHS Family Violence Prevention – Men's Behaviour Change $50,000 (2008)
- WESNET Inc Women's Services Network – Intimate Partner Rape DVD $46,000 (2008)
- DHS, Children, Youth and Families Division, Project funds of $70,000 Additional funding (2008)
- Goulburn Valley PCP, Women Gathering in Dry Times $30,000 (2008)
- Victorian Women’s Trust, Common Cents $12,000 (2008)
- Upper Hume PCP, Making Two Worlds Work (contribution) $16,100 (2205-8)
- National Community Crime Prevention, B-Safe, $230,420 (2007-2010)
- National Australia Bank NILS Project Capital $96,000 (2007)
- DHS, Public Health Branch, Integrating Equity principles and practices into continuous quality improvement in a Community Health Service $20,000 (2007)
- VicHealth, Communities Together $8,000 (2007)
- Office of Women's Policy, Our Vote Counts for Centenary of Women's Suffrage in Victoria, $8,800 (2007)
(With Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation) FACS Local Answers, Wodonga Good Gundja, $298,499 (2005)
Financial management
WHGNE has a history of sound financial management.
Our finances are maintained on MYOB Accounting Software and prepared in accordance with applicable Australian Accounting Standards.
The day to day financial management is the responsibility of a Finance and Systems Officer.
Our financial position is monitored by a sub finance committee of the Board of Management who meet monthly.
The organisations finances are audited annually; a requirement of the DHS Service Agreement. The audited statements are reported to the DHS and Consumer Affairs Annually.
Our infrastructure costs are maintained at approximately 25% of annual expenditure, a proportion that compares favourably with organisations of a comparable size and income.
Our most recently audited financial reports are available.
Our most recent financial statements are available.
Our partnerships
Our partners are women, service providers, local organisations, and local communities. We try to model collaborative approaches and resource sharing, and to facilitate the development of lasting and positive relationships. Local women are actively involved in the management of all our projects.
Members play an important part in our efforts to improve and sustain women's health within our communities. At present, we have 80 individual members and 60 organisational members.
WHGNE's planning expertise
WHGNE assists professionals and communities to better recognise and understand the ways that gender impacts on people's lives. We have contributed to the research, evaluation and planning processes of a number of other organisations seeking to respond better to gender issues in their work and/or enhance their research or health promotion roles. Our consultancies include:
- Hume Region Integrated Family Violence Service Sector planning (2008)
- GV CASA – Service Evaluation 2007
- Upper Murray CASA – Evaluation plan 2006
- Upper Murray Family Care - Equity 2005
- Charles Sturt University – Women and Depression 2004
- Central Hume Primary Care Partnership – Supporting Kids 2004-2005
- Upper Hume CHS – Plus 50 and Participate 2004-5
WHGNE's expertise in preventing violence against women
WHGNE is the lead agency for the Hume Region Integrated Family Violence Service System (HRIFVSS), and employs its coordinator. The role of the coordinator is to support the HRIFVSS’s development, implementation and evaluation, as well as identifying and offering community education and prevention opportunities to the Hume Region Family Violence Alliance (HRFVA). (WHGNE has auspiced the Family Violence networker position for over a decade now, in its various guises and through several name changes.)
We work in close collaboration with Upper Murray Centre Against Sexual Assault and with Cooroonya Domestic Violence Services. For the past three years we have held our Annual General Meetings jointly, and this will continue into the future.
In 2007, WHGNE was funded $230,000 through the Federal Government's National Community Crime Prevention Program for the BSafe project. BSafe is a personal alarm system for women and children escaping family violence. It offers a risk management option for victims of family violence where they have obtained an Intervention Order and where there is a risk of the Order being breached.
We established the first region-wide No Interest Loan Scheme for women escaping family violence in 2007. It continues to operate, each year increasing the numbers of clients. In addition, we offer financial literacy classes and mentor training.
In 2003, we were awarded the Community Safety – Crime Prevention Award for Crime Prevention in Rural and Regional Victoria, presented at Parliament House in Melbourne. This award was for The Wangaratta Family Violence Integration Project, which trialled a Fax Back Referral System to improve referrals for women experiencing family violence. Following the project, there was a greater integration of services, with higher levels of interaction between the key organisations.
Over the years WHGNE has been established, we have initiated and managed many successful family violence projects, including currently, Raped by a Partner: A Research Report, and recently A Powerful Journey, a two-volume report about women leaving violent situations. In 2004, WHGNE developed and piloted Real Life: Relationships Education and Awareness for Life. This is a project that aims to educate Year 10 students in what constitutes a healthy relationship. It has continued in recent years, and next year will be delivered again to teachers and will be adapted for young people out of school. It represents early intervention into family violence.
WHGNE community arts experience
WHGNE has considerable experience in using the arts as a form of community development and self-expression by women.
WHGNE training
WHGNE is the primary provider of training services on gender and health in the Hume region. We train service providers, managers, planners, and peer educators.