Women’s Health Services Alliance Queensland (WHSA)

Coordinators of women's health services from across Queensland gathered in Gladstone in June 2009 to network, share ideas and form the Women’s Health Services Alliance (WHSA). Alliance members include the Statewide and regional services funded fully or predominantly by the Queensland Government to provide women’s health services in Queensland through the Public Health Outcomes Funding Agreement (PHOFA) with the Federal Government. They provide essential services of community support, health promotion, early intervention and prevention, and are utilised by marginalised communities and vulnerable women and families who may not access other health services.
This agreement enables members to collaborate on various projects, develop cooperative responses to key issues in State and Federal policy, and provide a statewide capacity to take full advantage of strengths in regional delivery, on issues affecting women’s health in Queensland. In 2019-2020 membership expanded to include newly-funded Women's Health and Well-being Services.
As Secretariat QWHN acts as an initial contact point, assists with meetings, communication and correspondence.

Alliance membership comprises:
Statewide services

• Women’s Health Queensland
• Queensland Women’s Health Network Inc (WHSA Secretariat Organisation)
• Children by Choice

Regional services

• Mackay Women’s Centre
• Gympie and District Women’s Health Centre
• North Queensland Combined Women’s Services
• Wide Bay Women’s Health Centre
• Logan Women’s Health Centre
• Women’s Health Centre Gladstone
• Women’s Health Centre Rockhampton
• Laurel Place – Women’s Space Health and Wellbeing Program

1. All services are equal members of the Alliance.
2. National links
   The Women’s Health Services Alliance is committed to maintaining active participation on the Australian Women’s Health Network (AWHN), and seeks at all times to have at least one WHSA representative on the AWHN National Committee.

PURPOSE
The purpose of the WHSA is:

• To advocate and lobby as an expert body for women’s health issues in Queensland
• To be a voice to government on women’s health policy
• To maintain and develop the future viability as key stakeholders in delivery of community based and/or community-focused women’s health services in Queensland
• To facilitate networking and support for members

PRINCIPLES
The WHSA is based on principles of social justice and an understanding of a gendered approach to health or health within a social context, as endorsed by governments throughout Australia. This endorsement was originally expressed in the National Women’s Health Policy (1989), Advancing Women’s Health in Australia.
This view recognises that:

• health is determined by a broad range of social, environmental, economic and biological factors
• differences in health status and health objectives are linked to gender, age, socio-economic status, ethnicity, disability, location and environment, racism, sex-role stereotyping, gender inequality and discrimination, ageism, sexuality and sexual preferences
• health promotion, disease prevention, equity of access to appropriate and affordable services and strengthening the primary health care system are necessary, along with high quality illness treatment services
• information, consultation, advocacy and community development are important elements of the health process.

In accordance with these principles, the member organisations of the WHSAQ provide services which:

• encompass all of women's lifespan, and reflect women's various roles in Australian society, not just their reproductive role
• promote the participation of women in debate and decision making about health issues, their own health care, health service policy, planning, delivery and evaluation
• recognise women's rights, as health care consumers, to be treated with dignity, in an environment which provides for privacy, informed consent, confidentiality and safety
• acknowledge that informed decisions about health and health care require accessible information, which is appropriately targeted for different socio-economic, educational and cultural groups
• use existing data, research and policy concerning women's health, as well as incorporating women's views about their own health and the best strategies to address their health needs, in service planning and development
• provide appropriate women's health care to women in local communities, within a state-wide, co-ordinated approach
• ensure equity and accessibility of services without financial, cultural, geographic and or other barriers.
• ensure effective management and operation of women's health centres by women, for women
• provide a broad range of services and strategies within a preventive and holistic framework, which:
  • are provided by women, for women
  • value women's own knowledge and experience
  • facilitate the sharing of women's skills, knowledge and experience
  • link women's individual experience and health needs to the social and cultural context of women's lives
  • empower women
  • challenge sex-role stereotyping, gender discrimination, racism and homophobia which affect health
  • increase the accessibility, sensitivity and acceptability of health services for women
  • relate to identified health priorities at the local and state level.