For the first time, the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Trust (QVWCT) will receive government funding to maintain its historic Edwardian building on Lonsdale Street.

Announced in the State budget today, the QVWCT will receive almost $2 million over four years, allowing it to concentrate other fund raising efforts to support its core programs which centre around women’s health and wellbeing and capacity building.

Women attend a talk about Burmese refugees' rights at QVWC as part of International Women's Day 2006.

In 1896, (an era when the Australian Medical Journal editor stated ‘in any British Community, people will wonder at medical women just as they wonder at dancing dogs, fat boys and bearded ladies…”), the Queen Victoria Women’s Hospital (QVWH) was established to provide medical services for women, by women.

110 years later, dwarfed by CBD high rises, the QVWH’s heritage listed Edwardian tower is all that survives. The tower is home to the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Trust (QVWCT) which continues the QVWH’s traditions - providing support services to the women of Victoria.

Playing a vital role in facilitating collaboration between women’s organizations, the QVWC is the lead source for Victorian women on issues such as domestic violence, indigenous women’s issues, sexual assault, legal and work choices.
The Centre’s tenants include such critical service providers as WIRE (women’s information service) the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention & Legal Service (AFVPLS), CASA House (Centre Against Sexual Assault), Domestic Violence Victoria (DV Vic), Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women's Coalition, and BreaCan (Breast Cancer Support Victoria).

While providing support for all women across a range of issues, the QVWC also offers very specific services, such as the AFVPLS, which provides a culturally sensitive and safe environment for Aboriginal women and children experiencing violence. 

According to Antoinette Braybrook of the AFVPLS “The issues facing Aboriginal women in urban areas are often overlooked. We work with women who face barriers in accessing mainstream providers who don’t understand the culturally sensitive issues that are of particular importance to the Aboriginal community” Braybrook said.

Not confined to the indigenous community, domestic violence is problem that affects many communities.  It has no cultural or demographic boundaries.

Helen Hewett, Chair of the QVWCT says “the exact size of the problem is not known.”  

“There is a national database on car thefts updated four times daily, but there is no database kept recording the incidence of violence against women!” Hewett said.

“The organizations within QVWC work with countless women and children threatened by domestic violence, but we can’t know how many more are out there needing help. All we can do is let them know we are here and that there are services available to help them.”
 

Meanwhile, WIRE, provides a confidential hotline for women staffed by volunteers offering information and support on a range of issues. Each year WIRE’s hotline receives over 18,000 calls and over eight thousand women walk-in to access services.

According to Samiro Douglas of WIRE, “Hundreds of thousands of Victorian women struggle with issues such as unemployment, domestic violence, stalking, unplanned pregnancies, sexual assault and depression and simply don’t know who to turn to. For them, WIRE’s skilled, sensitive staff and anonymous hotline is a lifeline.

“We help women recognise their own strength and where possible connect them with support services such as those found at the QVWC, like CASA and BreaCan” Douglas said.

Friends of the YWCA create 'No Diet Day' artworks. Photo:YWCA Victoria.

As a first stop for many women, the centre’s online InfoHub, launched in March 2006, provides vital information and links to other sources. The InfoHub is particularly valuable to rural women, who can feel isolated from essential support and information.

According to QVWCT Chair, Helen Hewett, “Through the range of services available physically at the QVWC as well as the online InfoHub, essential support is available to all Victorian women, regardless of their location and issues.

“One of our biggest challenges now is in not only helping women access services, but making women aware of the services that are out there for them.

“The recent budget allocation will mean we don’t have to worry about the bricks and mortar and can focus on the ‘flesh and blood’ – like the founding women of the QVWH!”

The funding allocation in the recent budget will take care of maintaining the historic tower, allowing the QVWCT to focus its efforts on the activities and services intended by its foremothers – the provision of services for women by women.

Fund raising has always been an essential element of the QWVCT, as it was for the QVWH when it was established. In 1897 a committee lead by suffragette Annette Bear-Crawford devised The Shilling Fund, asking every woman in the colony of Victoria to donate one shilling (roughly $40 today) towards what would become Victoria’s first dedicated women’s hospital. In 2005, The Shilling Fund was relaunched by Mary Delahunty, Minister for Women's Affairs as an ongoing fund raising effort to help continue the work of the QVWCT.

Through The Shilling Fund, people can donate money to the QVWCT, while paying tribute to an amazing woman in their life. Tributes will be placed on the Shilling Wall at the QVWC which will be unveiled in October when it celebrates its 110th anniversary. From $40 to $40,000, tributes will range in size, and secure a place in history for women on the site that has been home to the great achievements of women providing care and support for other women for 110 years.
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For more information or to arrange an interview with Helen Hewett, Chair QVWCT, Antoinette Braybrook of the AFVPLS or Samiro Douglas of WIRE please contact:

Tamara DiMattina
PR to QWVCT
Mobile:  0410 64 54 74
Email:    tamara@handle.com.au