Over $18 million to boost women’s virtual health services

• Over $18 million invested to boost women’s virtual health services as part of Queensland’s first Women and Girls Health Strategy.
• More than $12 million will provide a new therapeutic mental health and wellbeing service to provide early intervention help to women and girls through virtual and telephone services.
• More than $6 million will go toward expanding 13 HEALTH to make it easier for women and girls to access reliable health services.

Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services has announced the first initiative from Queensland’s first Women and Girls Health Strategy, with more than $18 million to boost women’s virtual health services.

The new counselling and support service forms part of the Miles Government’s forthcoming $250 million Queensland Women and Girls Strategy, set to improve Queensland women and girls’ mental health and wellbeing.

The new therapeutic mental health and wellbeing service will be funded from 1 July 2024 to provide women and girls with early access to improved counselling and therapeutic mental health support.

It will particularly address gaps in wrap-around support and recovery for pregnancy loss, still birth and for those families experiencing the sad loss of a child due to neo-natal death.

Women and girls will be able to contact qualified and experienced mental health practitioners through the service for counselling, referrals, support, and advice.

The service will be particularly beneficial to women and girls who live in rural and remote areas who may have difficulty in accessing supports close to home.

Queensland Health will be partnering with community-based providers to deliver the service, which will be complemented with improvements to the existing 13 HEALTH phone and online channels to meet demand for women-centred information.

Information and clinical advice will be updated and expanded to direct women and girls to local services, including referrals for counselling, making it easier for them to access health support, when they need it.

13 HEALTH will also refer women and girls to the new therapeutic mental health and wellbeing service, where appropriate, to deliver more coordinated information and coordinated care.

The Miles Government is committed to delivering tailored services closer to home and improving Queensland women and girls’ health and wellbeing.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman:

“As both the Minister for Health and the Minister for Women, I have made it one of my top priorities to improve the lives of Queensland’s women and girls, no matter where they live.

“We know that women in Australia, and in Queensland, experience different health outcomes than men.

“It’s why I’m thrilled to announce our first initiatives as part of Queensland’s first Women and Girls Health Strategy.

“From the more than 12,000 women surveyed across Queensland – the latest ever response to a government survey, 77 per cent listed mental health as a critical issue.

“Our government has listened and is why we’re developing a new therapeutic mental health and wellbeing service that can be accessed through virtual and telephone means.

“This means that women and girls from across Queensland will be able to access the mental health support they need from the safety and comfort of their own homes.

“The service will mean our women living in the most remote, rural, and regional parts of the state can still access support, close to home.

“I am incredibly proud of the investments we’re making in women’s health and mental health services and look forward to sharing more exciting news with Queensland over the coming days.”

ENDS