On

Women's Health

Women living in Sydney Local Health District are diverse and some communities are more likely to experience additional health vulnerabilities. The Women’s Health Program goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of women living in Sydney Local Health District, especially those from priority populations who experience health inequities and barriers to access health services.

Supporting the Health and Wellbeing of Women

In Sydney Local Health District we support the health and wellbeing of women by:

Developing outreach models to offer cervical screening and sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing in the community
Delivering health promotion, health education initiatives and awareness campaigns
Providing training and support to healthcare and service providers on women’s health topics

Key Projects

Media campaigns to promote cervical screening awareness
Breast Cancer Concierge Program
Breast Screening and Cervical Screening community education
Resources for women with HIV
Postnatal contraception videos

NSW Women’s Health Framework

Our work is guided by NSW Women’s Health Framework 2019, which provides direction to all NSW Health organisations and staff to deliver services and foster environments in NSW that help women to meet their physical, emotional, social and economic potential.

The Framework's vision is to achieve better health and wellbeing for all women and girls in NSW at every stage of their lives.

We work with women from priority populations including:

Aboriginal women
Culturally and linguistically diverse women
Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community
Women living with a disability
Women experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage or homelessness

We also work with a range of clinical services, research institutes and community organisations to achieve the best possible outcomes for women in Sydney Local Health District.

Key Services for Women's Health

National Cervical Screening Program	Recommends all women or people with a cervix aged between 25-74 years who have ever been sexually active to have a cervical screening test every five years.
NSW Cancer Institute	Provides information on cervical, bowel and breast screening.
Breastscreen NSW	Provides free screening mammograms to women aged 50-74. Women aged 40-49 and women aged 75+ are also eligible to attend.
1800 Respect	A national domestic family and sexual violence counselling service.
Leichhardt women’s health community centre	A non-government and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing low-cost and affordable medical allied and complementary healthcare and education to improve women’s health.

Postnatal Contraception videos

Developed as part of the Postpartum Contraception Project, these videos are a partnership between Priority Populations Programs, Diversity Programs & Strategy Hub and University of Sydney Professor and RPA Hospital gynaecologist Kirsten Black.

The video explains the importance of postnatal contraception, the different types of contraception available, safety, and how to access support. The video is available in multiple languages.