The Women Gathering model was developed by Women’s Health Goulburn North East in 2006-08 in response to the ongoing drought in the Hume region. The model was adapted in response to the 2009 bushfires, and again as Women Gathering Online to adjust for the COVID 19 pandemic.

2024 marked its fourth iteration, with the updated Women Gathering project fostering community participation with free group facilitation training to women and gender diverse people across the Goulburn North East region. Participants built skills, made connections and learned to share their area of special interest with like-minded women from their local area.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, women from diverse communities have participated in group facilitation training, had opportunities for peer support and attended health education sessions.

Guided by the Women Gathering model, women from migrant and refugee communities attended our ‘train the trainer’ sessions, and have since gone on to initiate their own small groups, fostering community connection and wellbeing. Some of the group focuses include social inclusion, preventative health and physical activity.

You can read all about Krishna’s experience in the case study on this page. We have two more sessions lined up in 2026, in Mansfield and Upper Murray.

Find the Women Gathering resources developed to date HERE.

Who did this training?

Women and gender diverse people from the Goulburn Valley and northeast Victoria over the age of 18 with a desire to run a group and learn new skills – that’s it!

Some participants already ran a group or had a special interest that they wanted to form a group around. They might have been into gardening, crochet or woodwork. They were driven to network with other women and create social opportunities to support mental health and wellbeing.

Participants attended a half-day session to build group facilitation skills, made connections and took home a comprehensive toolkit.