Queensland Women and Girls' Health Showcases

Our showcase events brought together peers across women and girls' health and wellbeing to share, inspire, create change, and explore how we can design and deliver more equitable health care for all Queenslanders.

Brisbane Women and Girls' Health Showcase

The Brisbane Women and Girls’ Health Showcase was held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane on Wednesday 26 February and Thursday 28 February 2025. This event covered key themes such as sexual and reproductive health, mental health, perimenopause and menopause and pelvic health and menstruation.

The following presentations are available for viewing:

• Professor Rebecca Kimble – Opening Address
• Dr Kathryn Saba – Surgical Termination of Pregnancy (STOP) 16-18 Weeks: Teaching, training and more choice for women
• Dr Carla Smerdon – Genetic Health Queensland: Prenatal Care Pathways
• Dr Claire Fotheringham - Overcoming the "post code lottery" through telehealth: Queensland Virtual Early Medical Termination of Pregnancy Service (QVEMToPS)
• Katherine Cacavas – Empowering women to participate in outreach sexual health screening on the Gold Coast
• Dr Sheridan Guyatt–Supporting the mental health of postnatal women and their infants through a co-designed physiotherapy-led intervention
• Lene Ritter – Contraception and RCA online screening tool & information portal
• Rosemary McDonald and Emma Fraser – Enhancing mental health and resilience in rural women: A trauma-informed, art-based community approach to disaster recovery
• Bianca Blackmore – Mentally Healthy Menopause: Exploring mental health during menopause – what are the solutions?
• Professor Gita Mishra – Menopause and Perimenopause: Insights from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health
• Dr Stephanie Stanton-Fay – Exploring Queensland women and girls’ health-related behaviours: Research to inform statewide communications
• Claire Kelly – Menopause Allyship: An opportunity to improve health literacy, psychological safety and health outcomes
• Professor Jenny Doust – Women’s decision-making experiences and satisfaction with heavy menstrual bleeding treatment
• Brittany Edwards and Rochelle Courtenay – The Bloody Big Survey: The world’s biggest body of data on menstruation
• Tina Blair – Understanding women’s experiences and perceptions of period health
• Professor Rebecca Kimble – “You don’t have to suffer periods…” Menstrual Management in Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology
• Julie Westaway – Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A rural and remote woman’s journey
• Melissa Rowland and Brianna Fjelsoe– Menstrual Health and Hygiene Promotion: An evidence review
• Nicole Ramsay – Connected Communities: Bridging consumers, health professionals and employers to reduce stigma and build support
• Sarah Myles – Putting Pelvic Health First: How physiotherapy is changing the lives of women in regional Queensland
• Dr Meg Doohan – A pilot program for holistic wellbeing: The science of fitness women’s health program
• Panel Discussion
• Professor Rebecca Kimble – Closing Remarks.

Cairns Women and Girls' Health Showcase

The Cairns Women and Girls' Health Showcase was held at the Hilton Hotel, Cairns on Thursday 8 May 2025. This event focussed on healthcare for women and girls living in rural and remote locations, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls.

The following presentations are available for viewing:

• Brooke Blurton – Keynote speech
• Katherine (Katy) Wilson - Traffic Lights - Identifying, understanding and responding to sexual behaviours in young people
• Jessica Toua – Statewide Peer Support Program: Menopause
• Andrea Obeyesekere and Ambika Guatam – Women – the heart and foundation of strong communities: A grassroots approach to CALD women’s wellbeing and suicide prevention
• Dr Cecelia O’Brien – Care on Country: Women's Health Circle and Check-up Australia
• Alyssa Cormick – Pilot psychology and physiotherapy MDT supporting patients’ experiencing persistent pelvic pain at Cairns Hospital
• Q&A – Morning Session
• Linda Kirby – Systems mapping for sexual assault victim survivors: Unexpected findings and unintended successes in delivering a comprehensive trauma-informed forensic examinations in vulnerable population groups
• Katie Edmondson –Embedding culturally appropriate termination of pregnancy care > 22 weeks gestation for First Nations clients.
• Dr Wojciech Szubert – Mackay Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Service: Development of a new multidisciplinary collaboration
• Danielle Cahill – Mareeba Maternal Health Project
• Mikaila Coates – Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) Birawan: A culturally safe maternity model
• Q&A – Midday Session
• Olivia Milsom – Exploring health experiences and opportunities to maximise wellbeing of remote living First Nations women in the Western Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
• Erin McBride – Pregnancy Options and Culture: What does it mean to be a safe person in rural and remote communities across Queensland?
• Dr Josephine Pearson – Contextualised support for training future rural General Practice (GP) Obstetricians
• Katie Edmondson – Establishing routine termination of pregnancy services in a North Queensland tertiary hospital
• Dr Simon Arnold – Women’s health education program: Benefits of a multidisciplinary learning for Kingaroy, Dalby, Goondiwindi, Stanthorpe, and Warwick
• Q&A – Afternoon Session