Queensland Women's Health Strategy

The Queensland Government is committed to advancing the rights and interests of women and girls and to work to achieve gender equality in Queensland as outlined in the Queensland Women's Strategy 2022-27. The Queensland Women’s Strategy includes a commitment to addressing health inequality for women and girls through the development of a
Queensland Women’s Health Strategy.

2023 update

To progress the development of a Queensland Women's Health Strategy, the project team is now considering:

• all feedback received through the consultation phase
• what women and girls have already told us about how the health system can be improved (in recent consultation reports)
• research that tells us some of the health concerns for women and girls
• what other governments have done to improve the health of women and girls.

In coming months, we will update you about the development of a Queensland Women's Health Strategy on this web page. If you have any queries, get in touch with the team at womenshealthstrategy@health.qld.gov.au.

Consultation

Consultation has been a critical step to guide the development of a Queensland Women’s Health Strategy, including potential core elements and focus areas. Between 17 November 2022 and 16 January 2023 Queensland Health consulted widely on the development of the strategy, including through targeted consultation  sessions, an online survey and by inviting written submissions. Consultation is now closed.

The published consultation materials are still available.

The consultation paper (PDF 1991 kB) supported the consultation process by setting out information that is relevant to the development of a strategy, including:

• issues that women and girls have already raised through various reviews and consultation mechanisms
• key statistics about health outcomes for women and girls in Queensland
• some potential areas that the strategy could focus on.

Review the Queensland women's health strategy consultation paper in full (PDF 1991 kB), or in sections:

• Consultation paper only (PDF 1503 kB)
• Appendix 1: Advice we have heard informing a Queensland women's health strategy (PDF 250 kB)
• Appendix 2: Our approach to developing a Queensland women's health strategy (PDF 154 kB)
• Appendix 3: Existing Queensland Government strategies and actions (PDF 114 kB)
• Appendix 4: Additional data informing a Queensland women's health strategy (PDF 148 kB)

An easy to read version (PDF 939 kB) and a one-page summary (PDF 127 kB) of the consultation paper are also available.

Background

We know that Australian women experience different health outcomes than Australian men and are not achieving their full health potential. For example, while women have a higher life expectancy than men, they are likely to experience more years with a disability and are likely to have multiple chronic  conditions. Women also make up a higher proportion of preventable hospital admissions.

There are a wide range of factors that influence these health outcomes, and there are opportunities for change that can address the barriers and challenges that affect the health of women and girls across their life span.

The development of a new Queensland women's health strategy is being led by the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services and is a signature action of the Queensland Women’s Strategy. A women’s health strategy is an opportunity to articulate the changes that can be made to help improve the health of  women and girls.