Submission to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health Services
MCWH is proud to advocate for better Victorian mental health services, support and access to information for migrant and refugee women.
Stillbirth Research and Education Final Report
We feel very honoured to have been mentioned in the final report of the Senate Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education. MCWH congratulates the Committee on their important work and looks forward to seeing the impact of the report…
Building a healthy future for migrant women in Victoria forum
Making links between research, practice and policy is always satisfying. That’s exactly what we achieved at the MCWH ‘Building a healthy future for migrant women in Victoria’ forum yesterday. Facilitated by award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Santilla Chingaipe, the…
Submission to the Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education
Submission to the Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education Inquiry into the future of stillbirth research and education in Australia This submission has been developed by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH), the national voice for immigrant and…
Beyond the baby blues: Submission to the Victorian Family and Community Development Committee Public Inquiry into Perinatal Services
On the one hand, motherhood may seem like one of the most natural things in the world. On the other, it all seems like hard work when the popular benchmarks for motherhood success are ‘yummy mummies’, backyard blitz homes and…
Submission to the Victorian Family and Community Development Committee Public Inquiry into Perinatal Services
This submission has been developed by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH), the national voice for immigrant and refugee women’s health and wellbeing. The term ‘immigrant and refugee’ refers to people who have migrated from overseas, and their children.…
Saying 'Yes' to equal rights and health
If you’ve been following the national news lately you’ll be aware that next week there will be a High Court decision which will advise Australians about whether we will be heading to the (postal) polls to register our views about…
New Victorian government ads against domestic violence.
Late last year Daniel Andrews launched the latest ads created by the Victorian government as part of the response to the findings of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence. 71 women were killed in Australia in 2016 as a result…
Introducing our Strategic Plan 2016-2020
We are very pleased and excited to present the 2016-2020 Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH) Strategic Plan. (Or click here for mobile friendly version). This plan was developed through a comprehensive consultation and summit process. Our valued stakeholders contributed their…
Gender and elder abuse: what’s the connection? Joint submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission on Elder Abuse
The Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and the University of Melbourne provided the following submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry on Elder Abuse. The submission draws on recent research showing that elder abuse is gendered and immigrant and…
Submission to the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy
MCWH is proud to share our submission to the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy, which was endorsed by eleven regional and state-wide women’s organisations including: Women’s Health In the North; Women’s Health in the Southeast; Women’s Health East; Women’s Health West;…
Supporting women's right to choose
MCWH is one of forty organisations that has signed on to an open letter to the Premier regarding abortion laws. Immigrant and refugee already face significant barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services and MCWH welcomes the government’s commitment…
Royal Commission into Family Violence – Day #17
Today is Day #17 of the Royal Commission and the focus is on looking at diversity of experiences, community attitudes and structural impediments surrounding family violence. Of particular interest to MCWH is the examination of family violence and prevention within the…
Submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence
Violence against women occurs in all Victorian communities and across all cultures. There are clear differences in the way that violence is enacted across cultures and social contexts, but no one immigrant/refugee community or culture is any more violent…
Sharing our Strengths: Where to from here for FGM/C prevention?
Last WRAP we lamented that your average, news-loving Australian is unlikely to learn about the complex issues related to ending female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) because, too often, that kind of complexity is pushed out in favour of some good-old heart-pumping,…
2014 CEDAW Shadow Report Consultation
Last week MCWH co-hosted an important discussion focusing on immigrant and refugee women’s rights with Diaspora Action Australia and YWCA Australia. YWCA Australia led the consultation as part of the development of the 2014 United Nations Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination…
Our Voices: Filling the Gaps FGM Spokesperson Project
This week MCWH was honoured to welcome African Women Australia (AWAU) to our Melbourne training room to conduct a component of their national FGM Spokesperson Project. Juliana Nkrumah and Paula Abood worked together with 7 Melbourne-based African women to frame…
A model for FGM/C Community Education in Victoria
The Victorian FGM/C program, the Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP), is under review. The aim of the review is to address a range of changes and challenges that have been identified over the 13 years of the program’s…
MWHA Roundtable: Building a national picture of immigrant and refugee women's health
Last week MCWH hosted a two-day roundtable for members of our national multicultural women’s health network, which has been developed as part of the the Multicultural Women’s Health Australia program. The occasion provided a rare opportunity to survey the current…
Australian Human Rights Commission Roundtable in Melbourne on increasing CALD women's voices
In 2011 the Australian Human Rights Commission hosted a successful study tour undertaken by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women in Australia. You can read about the some of the outcomes of that tour, including the AHRC Report,…
Position Paper on International Student Access to Pregnancy-Related Care
Through the On Your Own research project we undertook in 2011 with international students in Melbourne, we found that the minimum requirements of the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) Deed pose significant obstacles to female international students who fall pregnant…