Women's Health Grampians

26/02/2026

Wonderful opportunity from Women with Disabilities Victoria

26/02/2026

We regularly reflect on and evaluate the value and effectiveness of the Communities of Respect and Equality Alliance as a violence prevention model, and last year we completed the latest four-year report (2021-2025). We're pretty happy with what we found, and very proud of the hard work CoRE members have put in over those years.

Rose Durey, WHG's Manager of Strategy and Programs, discusses the findings with our valued evaluation consultant Alison Peipers in this short video. We encourage everyone to check out the full report, available on our website: https://tinyurl.com/2ebse36d

Stay tuned for more celebrations later in the year as we mark ten years of best-practice, place-based partnership that reflects the region's commitment to respectful, equitable and safe communities!

25/02/2026

!!! New WHG project!!! Tell Your Story: Disaster, Recovery, and Resilience (TYS DRR) aims to listen to and gather the lived experience stories of women, men and gender diverse people across the Grampians region who experienced the 2024 and 2025 bushfires.

Local stories of disaster, resilience and recovery are powerful tools for change and we would love to hear yours. There are multiple ways to get involved in the project, including an online survey, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. To find out more, visit our website: https://whg.org.au/our-work/projects/tell-your-story-disaster-recovery-and-resilience-in-the-grampians/

Jump straight to survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TellYourStoryDRR

25/02/2026

Women’s Health Grampians welcomes well-researched and considered investigative journalism that highlights the impacts of gendered violence. ABC Australia’s Hometown Boys podcast has already prompted important conversations across the country. We are especially glad that, thanks to the podcast, ‘Elise’ is now receiving the outpouring of support and validation that she was denied at the time the assault occurred and in the years it took for the case to play out in court. We applaud her courage in choosing to speak about her lived experience, and hope she feels a sense of pride in the fact that sharing her story has opened space for others to come forward.

These stories need to be shared. We should be having conversations about why and how violence occurs, and we should be taking steps to prevent violence occurring in the first place. Stories like Hometown Boys can and should act as a call to action. Gendered violence prevention is long-term work, and changing entrenched attitudes and biases takes time. But now is always a good time to start.

To learn more about WHG's partnership and community based violence prevention work in the Grampians region, visit our website to read about the Communities of Respect and Equality (CoRE) Alliance: https://whg.org.au/our-work/violence-against-women/communities-of-respect-equality-core/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-21/balmoral-home-town-boys-rape-divides-football-farming-town/106145646

A local footy star and his mate are convicted of ra**ng their friend. In the tiny town of Balmoral, where the footy club reigns, the town makes it clear whose story they believe.

24/02/2026

We cannot wait to celebrate this year's Great Women of Ballarat honourees! Congratulations to 💜 Larelle Kuczer💜 Sherley Hart💜 Jill Oliver💜 Rebecca Jakobi💜 Cathy Oddie and💜 Wendy Sturgess. Our community is truly fortunate to have these women working tirelessly and often very quietly behind the scenes to make our world a kinder, braver, better place.

If you'd like to join us to celebrate - and you should! - full booking details are on Ballarat Foundation's post below.

✨Join us for Illuminate – Great Women of Ballarat 2026.✨

A night of celebration and a powerful reminder of the extraordinary leadership, courage and contribution of women in our region.

We are proud to honour this year’s inductees:
💜 Larelle Kuczer
💜 Sherley Hart
💜 Jill Oliver
💜 Rebecca Jakobi
💜 Cathy Oddie
💜 Wendy Sturgess

Come and celebrate these remarkable women and the impact they continue to have across Ballarat ➡️
https://www.ballaratfoundation.org.au/events/35/illuminate-great-women-of-ballarat-2026

23/02/2026

Unnecessary surgeries on women who are already suffering from pain conditions... slow and ineffective complaints processes... we need a revolution in women's health. Kudos to Four Corners and the ABC for centring women's health experiences and prompting further action.

The revelations aired tonight on ABC Four Corners, outlining the experiences of women seeking care for pelvic pain, are deeply disturbing and represent a profound failure of our health system.

Women’s Health Victoria Chief Executive Officer Sally Hasler said the issues raised by the episode, aptly called ‘Scarred’, are more evidence that the health system fails to listen to, believe and care for women.

The horrific issues raised in ‘Scarred’ are consistent with what women have been saying for a very long time.

We need all those in power to listen and to act.

Read our full statement on our website : https://www.whv.org.au/four-corners-scarred/

23/02/2026

Last week we joined our sisters from the Women’s Health Services Network at Queens Hall, Parliament, to showcase the impact and reach of women’s health services right across Victoria. We highlighted how local women’s health services create meaningful statewide impact across Victoria, and it was particularly great to chat with Martha Haylett MP Michaela Settle MP and Sarah Mansfield MP about our work across the Grampians region.

Conversations with MPs and interested others across three days reflected a shared commitment to effective prevention of violence, gender equity, and healthier communities. Our CEO Jennie Courtney chaired an expert panel showing how the Women's Health Services Network brings those priorities together through our advocacy, partnerships and place-based programs to make a real difference in the lives of women and gender diverse people.

Thank you to the Victorian Government for hosting us and giving us the opportunity to showcase the incredible impact happening in communities right across the state.

22/02/2026

This time last Sunday communities across the Grampians region came together to .back.the.track.

60 people joined the Ballarat event organised by and which started out with a beautiful Welcome to Country by Wadawurrung woman Shannen Mennen before everyone took to the trails along Yaramlok River.

40 people came together from near and far in Budja Budja/ Halls Gap to hit the trails with and Gariwerd for a second year in a row.

Running and walking are in the top 5 activities that women and gender diverse people enjoy doing with a myriad of mental and physical health benefits.

Devastatingly a 2023 Adidas survey of 9,000 people reported that 92% of women felt unsafe when out running, over 50% were fearful of physical attack and experiences of harassment meant that 46% of women identified a loss of interest in running.
back.the.track founder Sissy Austin had a horrific attack herself while out running in Feb 2023 and Samantha Murphy did not come home alive from her Sunday run in Feb 2024.

Hence this crucial movement started which we support wholeheartedly for every woman and gender diverse person to feel safe and be free from violence when enjoying time outdoors.

We’re still beaming to have witnessed such amazing community support for Take Back The Track Day 2026 including men showing up as allies. And we can’t wait to get involved again in 2027 with even bigger crowds.

A big thank you also goes to and who have all been instrumental in organising those runs.

19/02/2026

Head along to The Big Sing for Peace and hear from our First Nations Health Promotion staff Alison sharing her story as survivor of the The Stolen Generations and talking about the Yarning Garden.

BIG SING for Peace event: Sunday Feb 22nd.
❤️❤️❤️
Barkly Square, from 3-4pm
(25-39 Barkly St, Ballarat East).

*No singing experience required.....
Free event!
All welcome!

Big Sing for Peace

Big Sing Ballarat
Let's talk peace - Ballarat
Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council - BRMC
Compassionate Ballarat
Barkly Square

17/02/2026

We are looking forward to next week's BizNet Breakfast from Commerce Ballarat featuring Dr Jen Knight from Monash University. Dr Knight's research looks at the links between gendered violence and concussion/brain injury.

Unsurprisingly, there is more research on sports-related brain injuries than there is on family violence related brain injuries, despite the known high prevalence: up to 40% of family violence survivors who attended Victorian hospitals over a 10-year had sustained a brain injury. Lack of reporting within the community alongside lack of understanding of what constitues a brain injury mean the actual numbers are much, much higher.

The session is delivered in conjunction with WRISC Family Violence Support and WHG.

Find out more and purchase tickets here: https://www.commerceballarat.com.au/event/march-biznet-breakfast/

A good intro from the ABC on the links between violence and brain injury: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-05/brain-injury-concussion-strangulation-partner-violence-study/106159980

17/02/2026

CoRE Alliance member Damascus College, Ballarat is taking steps to develop students' engagement with and understanding of community advocacy, support services and community wellbeing. Today our Youth Lead, Deb, contributed her insights as part of a panel of NFP professionals. The discussion was aimed at educating students about different ways we can make make meaningful contributions to the world around us. Understanding, connection and compassion are the foundations of respectful, safe communities and it's great to see our schools taking this aspect of education seriously.

17/02/2026

Join us from across the Wimmera for a International Women’s Day experience that acknowledges current challenges, honours care for self and others, and reminds us that together, we are stronger.

Many women in our region are balancing external demands while quietly carrying a significant internal load. This event will be led by experienced facilitator Ellen Jackson of Potential Psychology and aims to bring the community together to recognise those shared challenges and create space to move forward together.

From 12 - 1.30pm on Tuesday 10 March 2026 at the Horsham Town Hall theatre. Ticket prices are $15/ $12 concession and can be purchased at the or online via: https://horshamtownhall.com.au/iwd/

Light lunch will be provided, and the Horsham Regional Art Gallery are offering a free guided tour of current exhibitions from 11.30am.

We would like to thank the following sponsors and partners for their valuable contributions: Yarriambiack Shire Council , Centre For Participation , Uniting Vic.Tas , Allied Justice , GWMWater , Horsham Rural City Council and Federation University Australia .

* Women's Health Grampians uses the term 'women' inclusively to mean cisgender and transgender women. All genders are welcome at our 'Finding the Balance' event.