We thrive on empowering women

Contents

Womens Health & Family Services acknowledges that we are gathered on traditional Nyoongar Whadjuk land and pay our respect to elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

1 Chair’s Report

2 CEO’s Report

3 About WHFS

3 Our Work

4 Medical Clinic

5 Mental Health Services

5 Aboriginal Client Services

6 Children and Family Services

7 Health Promotion

8 Our Clients

9 Our Staff

9 Financial Overview

Chair’s Report

The past year has continued our journey of transition maintaining an unchanged commitment to growth and the provision of a women-centred service for all women.

On a sad note, the Board and staff bid farewell to our longstanding Chief Executive Officer, Ann Deanus, in December. We were delighted that Ann’s significant contribution to the women’s health sector was recognised at her farewell by the Hon Alanna Clohesy MLC representing the Hon Roger Cook, Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Mental Health, Professor Steve Allsop from the National Drug Institute, and Jill Rundle, Chief Executive Officer of the WA Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies.

After a competitive recruitment process, the Board was delighted to appoint new Chief Executive Officer, Felicite Black, who commenced in February 2019 with an immediate focus on building the organisational capability necessary for growth. A priority for the CEO and the Board was to better understand the changing operating environment for women’s health services and explore partnership opportunities to strengthen WHFS and enhance service delivery.

As part of this transition, I have worked to build Board capability in anticipation of some Board changes at the end of the year. Following a skills audit, the Board Selection and Recruitment Committee, comprising Deputy Chair, Sue Barnett, and Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Jo Robinson-Smith and myself, has implemented a proactive recruitment program for new Board Members. This included amending the Constitution to allow the Board to appoint its first male Board Member, Dr Peter Wynn Owen, in April. Several other Board Members are expected to be appointed at the Annual General meeting.

After five years on the Board I have announced I will be stepping down at the 2019 Annual General Meeting. I would like to wish the Board, Chief Executive Officer and committed staff of WHFS my very best wishes for an exciting future delivering outstanding services that will improve the lives of all women.

Anne Banks-McAllister AM Chair

Visit us online www.whfs.org.au2018-19 Annual Report 1

CEO’s Report

Our theme at WHFS this year has been one of adapting to change.

We farewelled Ann Deanus in November after 25 years as CEO. Through her vision and tenacity Ann led the development of WHFS into the uniquely integrated health and social services organisation that in 2018/19 provided services to more than 7000 Western Australian women and their families.

I joined WHFS in February 2019 and it is a privilege and challenge to make our services increasingly accessible to WA women. Being able to access sexual and reproductive health, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, aboriginal, FDV and speciality multicultural FDV services from one organisation in one place with a free on site crèche available is what makes WHFS so unique. Our clients do not have to tell their story over and over and navigate multiple referral processes between different providers to get the support that they need.

To ensure our connected services are as seamless and flexible as they can be and to provide our clients with increased opportunities to interact with us WHFS has designed a digital transformation project. This will build our capacity to work remotely and provide our services via outreach and tele-services. We have also looked critically at our organisational structure and infrastructure requirements and our new organisation structure and systems will not only assist WHFS to support the outstanding work that we do but also to measure our social impact and report more efficiently on our client outcomes.

One thing that has not changed this year however is WHFS’s commitment to quality service provision with re-accreditation to ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System and Certification of an Alcohol and other Drug Agency against the Standard on Culturally Secure Practice issued in April. Next year our quality journey will be taking us into accreditation against the National Mental Health Standards and increasing our organisational capacity as a child safe organisation.

This year both the state and federal departments of health published new policies to improve the health and wellbeing of women over the next decade and it is pleasing to note that WHFS is already working with many of the target areas outlined in these. Our work is far from done however as the WA 2019 Women’s Report Card shows that whilst progress is being made many inequalities persist. Sadly the data shows that women are still at considerable risk of violence and abuse – in both the private and public spheres. As WHFS goes forward with the development of a new strategic plan in 2019/20 our vision of better futures for Western Australian women their families and communities remains as relevant as ever and will continue to guide our efforts.

Felicite Black CEO

Keep up to date with the latest at WHFS

2 Womens Health & Family Services

Our vision:

Better futures for Western Australian women, their families and communities.

Our strategic focus areas:• Leading from the front

• Collaborating in all we do

• Expanding existing and new services

• Expanding independent funding steams

Our values:

Integrity, Trust, Respect, Diversity & Inclusion, Excellence, Quality, Equity, Innovation

About WHFS

Womens Health and Family Services (WHFS) is a not-for-profit community service that has been providing services to women for more than 40 years.

Our purpose is to provide quality, women-centred and integrated services to women their families and community. WHFS’s service footprint includes sexual and reproductive health services, mental health, alcohol and other drug , domestic violence advocacy and specialist multicultural domestic violence advocacy services,

parenting support, specialist support for children impacted by parental substance use and Aboriginal family support services to WA women and their families. WHFS plays a key role in ensuring that women’s health is always on the agenda in the formation of state and federal health policy.

Our Work

In 2018-19 our programs provided services to in excess of 7000 women and their families from our Joondalup and Northbridge sites along with our outreach services located in community centres and co-located with our partner organisations. Our service model aims to be flexible, connected and place based to respond to the various support needs that our clients require.

WHFS provided 23 programs to clients from all walks of life presenting with MH, AOD, FDV and related issues.

NorthbridgeBelmont

Gosnells

Fremantle

Joondalup

Ellenbrook

Midland

Mirrabooka

2018-19 Annual Report 3

Medical ClinicOur Northbridge and Joondalup clinics continue to provide excellence in women’s sexual and reproductive health care. Over the past 12 months the key reasons for women accessing our womens health clinics included:

• Cervical Screening

• Mental Health issues related to women’s health

• Contraceptive counselling and information

• Pregnancy planning and pregnancy care

• Unplanned pregnancy advice

• Menopause information and support

• Continence

• Sexual health issues including testing for sexually transmitted infections

• Nutrition

Women’s Health Care House now WHFS was the first women’s health centre in Western Australia. The organisation was established in Western Australia in 1977 due to the disparity in the way services were delivered to women by the mainstream health system. WHFS understands that women’s health issues are often sensitive in nature and not easily discussed. WHFS’s womens health clinics have continued to be staffed by all women doctors and nurses and to provide longer appointments than the standard appointment times in more general GP clinics. This ensures that the team can give the time required to assist and educate women who may have misinformation and poor health knowledge on sexual health, contraception, pregnancy risk, continence issues and menopause. The aim is that by allowing time to give information and education we will enable women to be able to make more informed decisions and improve their capacity to manage their health proactively resulting in better health and wellbeing outcomes.

WHFS and Perth Maternity have continued to grow and develop the partnership that commenced in June 2017. Women can self-referred or be referred by a healthcare professional to the midwife. Women are provided with all antenatal care within a collaborative obstetric shared care framework. Antenatal care is provided from the time of conception until after the birth. Antenatal care is personalized to each women’s individual needs and referral made to the birth service of choice. Onsite access to the midwife is convenient and easy, allowing women to coordinate appointments with other services provided at WHFS.

In 2018 the leading reason nationally for people visiting their GP was with a mental health issue. WHFS has also seen an increase in demand for mental health services over the past few years and to address this has been working on our capacity to be able to provide private psychological services to women through the Medicare benefits schedule. In the next 12 months WHFS will be aiming to have arrangements in place for women to access psychological services in our clinics including after hours and on Saturday mornings.

During 2019 we forged a new partnership with the Street Doctor to deliver affordable health care to the people of Perth. It isn't difficult to miss the street doctor’s graffiti art inspired van co-located outside our Northbridge office on Wednesday evening from 5.00 -8.00pm, providing affordable accessible GP service to local people especially the marginalised and vulnerable. This partnership has been a wonderful opportunity to deliver a GP service to vulnerable people. Street doctor is open to all, and works alongside WHFS’s evening clinic that caters for women’s health concerns.

Comments from clients

"A variety of options were given and Monica helped me decide what was best for me every time."

"Good to go to a female-centred place."

"Staff helpful and friendly."

"The nurse was FANTASTIC, she answered all my questions and was very supportive. One of the best experiences I've had. Thank you."

"Dr Jenny Hart & Dr Alison Creagh always put you at ease, I don't like going to the doctor to be honest but never feel uncomfortable with them."

"I have been attending the Northbridge clinic for around 16 years and will continue to have my women’s health checks there as the doctors are so helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Genevieve in particular."

"All questions are answered in a way I can understand so it doesn't go over my head."

"I think the Women's Health Clinic is one of the best health experiences I've had. The doctors and nurses are all so informed and accommodating and I have recommended their services to many of the women around me."

2019 We forged a new partnership with the Street Doctor to deliver affordable health care to the people of Perth

4 Womens Health & Family Services

Mental Health ServicesThe counselling program has seen an increased demand overall this year with issues related to family and domestic violence and a continued need to respond to trauma, chronic health, alcohol and drugs and mental health.

There was a 43% increase in the number of clients seeking support for a loved one’s alcohol or drug use.

To better respond to increased demand and keep the counselling services wait list down WHFS implemented an improved intake system with Specialist Intake Officers that improved practices around triage and client assessment. This enabled WHFS to implement a dedicated support and advocacy service for women identified as needing

assistance with issues such as housing, legal, justice, financial and employment. Adding these targeted resources has improved the effectiveness of WHFS’s integrated approach. It recognises that many of the women accessing counselling at WHFS experience significant and wide ranging social, cultural and economic vulnerabilities that are a first priority in co-ordinated care between advocacy and counselling.

WHFS After-Hours Service which provides counselling and group support services for women who work during business hours, or who live and/or study in the inner city areas has recently been extended to include the provision of counselling to diversion clients from the Alcohol Interlock and ODIS Schemes. These programmes provide assessment and treatment support for women apprehended by Police, appearing in courts, or who have an alcohol interlock condition on their driver’s licence.

In 2017, WHFS in collaboration with the Telethon Kids Institute, implemented the ‘Nurturing Families Programme’ by adapting the Parent Child Assistance Program (PCAP) to meet the needs of an Australian context. PCAP was designed in the US as “an evidence-based home visitation case-management model for mothers who abuse alcohol or drugs during pregnancy”. Its goals are to help mothers build healthy families and prevent future births of children exposed prenatally to alcohol and drugs. The initial pilot was funded by WAPHA and the preliminary evaluation has demonstrated client outcomes that have exceeded expectations. The economic benefits in the US model conservatively estimated a return of $18.80 for each $1 investment. WHFS is currently seeking additional and ongoing funding to continue and extend the pilot

Aboriginal Client ServicesDuring the 2018-2019 period the Aboriginal Grandparent and Family Support Service (AGFSS) worked with over 700 Aboriginal women and their families. AGFSS aims to support and strengthen Aboriginal grandparents and families across the generations by empowering clients to represent their

own interests, and to move towards a sustainable and effective change. AGFS provided counselling, advocacy and referrals, as well as group activities, peer support groups, early years playgroup and holiday programs.

Expansion of the Aboriginal Family Support program to the Joondalup/Wanneroo regions has been a particular highlight this year, with 60 families accessing counselling and family support. In partnership

with NMCADS and Cyrenian House 14 Families participated in a Healing Retreat at Point Peron and 164 people attended a variety of Community Capacity Building workshops, including a Depression and Suicide Prevention forum facilitated by Dr. Tracey Westerman and Deadly Thinking Workshops. These activities provided an opportunity to share personal stories, develop skills and give feedback. Aboriginal people ‘talking it out’ to achieve maximum impact on the subjects of grief, loss, depression and suicide. Sharing stories and learning skills to assist others at the same time using the information to self-heal is the Aboriginal way of learning.

AGFSS continues to partner with Jacaranda Community Centre to host a NAIDOC (National Aboriginal Islander Day of Celebration) event in Redcliffe, which this year attracted over 350 attendees. Local talents, including traditional dancers, bands and singers, as well as Aboriginal arts/craft displays, activities for children and adults including toy making, traditional foods and a variety of local and metropolitan health, welfare and government service stalls were all part of the event this year.

Aboriginal community capacity building workshop Participant’s comments:

“I have been holding my grief and loss for years now and this is the first time I have cried in front of other people.”

“I can stop holding on to all this guilt and pain, I now know I have to take care of myself before I can take care of others.”

“Thought I was doing the right thing by not talking about my loss so I didn’t bring it up in front of the kids to hide my pain but all I was teaching them was to hide their pain and we don’t talk about it - how wrong I was.”

2018-19 Annual Report 5

FDV, Children and Family Services WHFS has been providing FDV services since 1991 and multicultural support services since 1997. Specialist multicultural FDV services were added in 2001 and following a review that identified the need for additional children services these commenced in 2010. During the 2018-19 year the Children and Family Services team continued to focus on developing offerings that address existing gaps in service delivery and that work from an early intervention space.

The team also developed a workshop Responding to Disclosures of Domestic Violence designed for service providers, businesses, health practitioners and community groups. The workshop provides an overview of the current national and state context for best practice and also focusses on practical everyday ways to strengthen helpful social responses to disclosures.

Post attendance, 90% of participants in professional settings have reported that they feel more confident to respond appropriately to a disclosure of domestic violence

WHFS continued its advocacy work in FDV participating in the Roundtable to end Domestic Violence convened by Ruah in March and with a submission to The Department of Communities consultation process for the development of its Womens Plan that will be released in 2020 and aims to address gender inequality the state.

In a new partnership between WHFS and Womens and newborns the Heartful Conversations programme commenced. The weekly group is designed around principles of respectful and non judgemental conversational space for women from predominantly CALD backgrounds to share their lived experiences of Domestic Violence and cultural intersections. Participants have reported significant gains in personal capacity and self-esteem, including the confidence to pursue employment, study and community engagement.

The Connecting to Culture programme was developed to provide a welcoming space for young children to strengthen their understanding and experience of Aboriginal culture through a series of cultural workshops utilising elements of language, art, dance and play for exploration. After a successful pilot programme where all participants reported an increased familiarity with language and creative expression within a cultural setting the Connecting to Culture programme has been incorporated into WHFS’s annual schedule.

Family therapy was also introduced this year as a new programme with funding provided by WAPHA. Family therapists are based at a range of outreach locations and offer ongoing counselling to families with children under 18. This service compliments many of our group and individual counselling offerings.

2019 Family therapy was introduced this year as a new programme with funding provided by WAPHA

6 Womens Health & Family Services

WHFS has extensive experience

in providing student placements

2,000+ people participated in

health promotion workshops and activities

Health Promotion In the past year the Health Promotion service area has provided health and wellbeing education workshops within the Perth metropolitan area to diverse groups of women from over 70 cultural backgrounds including women from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island.

The aim of the workshops is to improve the participants’ knowledge and, teach practical skills to assist them with managing and improving their own health. The workshops also provide an opportunity for women to learn about what other support services may be available to them in their local community. The workshop topics reflect the priority areas for women’s health that were identified in the WA Women’s Health Strategy (2013-2017), WA Women’s Health and Wellbeing Policy (2019) and the National Women’s Health Strategy (2020-2030).

Supported by WAPHA, the health promotion team piloted a project to build capacity in AoD services for CALD individuals and communities. This project brought together professionals from the social and health sector in a series of 8 interactive forums with the aim to increase knowledge of the AOD issues affecting people from CALD communities, improve referral pathways and service delivery to effectively support CALD clients, families and communities experiencing AOD issues. The forums were attended by more than 100 participants from a wide range of professions and support services. Forum participants included teachers, career counsellors, AOD and MH health counsellors, youth workers, Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) advocacy workers, dietitians, children and family support workers and dentists. There was a diverse representation of government and non-government organisations including the Office of Multicultural Interest (OMI), ISHAR, Palmerston, Peer Based Harm Reduction WA,

Multicultural Futures, Richmond Fellowship, Department of Education, Navitas College, Department of Child Protection and Family Support, Joondalup Mental Health Human Services, Mission Australia and International Organisation of Migration (IOM).

WHFS has extensive experience in providing student placement opportunities for students enrolled in Master’s degree courses in Public Health, Bachelor degrees in Health Science & Public Health and students studying diplomas in Community Services. Past and current students within the health promotion service area represent the University of Western Australia (UWA), Edith Cowan University (ECU) and TAFE metro. Placement opportunities for volunteers and students provide the hands on experience that is needed to consolidate the students’ theoretical learning. Students and volunteers are allocated to live projects, and gain experience in report writing, research and project administration.

2018-19 Annual Report 7

of our clients accessed our Counselling Support

Employment & Training

Family Domestic Violence Advocacy

Clinical/Medical Services

Our clients came from 108 countries

of our Clients accessing Counselling and/

or Advocacy Support present with co-occurring Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Use, and Family and Domestic Violence or a history of Trauma

14% of clients identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

26.5% of clients are from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background

Most common primary counselling issues:

• Depression and/or Anxiety (including Perinatal Depression and Anxiety)

• Alcohol and Other Drug Use

• Family and Domestic Violence

• Eating Disorders

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Relationship (Parenting and/or Family Breakdown)

We provided services to more than 7,000 clients throughout 2018-2019.

Our Clients

30%

42%

22%

6%

benefited from our free onsite crèche services whilst attending our services.

333 families

70%

Services accessed

10%Inner city Perth

33%Eastern suburbs

31%Northern suburbs

5%Regional WA

21%Southern suburbs

Where our clients live

8 Womens Health & Family Services

Counselling & Support

Administrative/Corporate Support

Clinical/Medical

Children & Families (including FDV)

Health Promotion & Training

Aboriginal Client Services

Crèche

We had an annual turn-over just over $7 million in 2018-19.

Federal

State

Others

Grant revenue

Revenue from customers

Donations

Other revenue

Interest received

Employee benefits expense

Program costs

Administration expenses

Occupancy costs

Depreciation expenses

Insurance expenses

4% of staff identify as having a disability 5% of staff are Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander

23% of staff are from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)

background and speak a language other than English

107 highly qualified staff work with us to achieve our goals.

Our Staff

Financial Overview

29%

27%

16%

13%

Overview of total revenue

Revenue sources Expenditures

-84%93%31%

-2%1%

-5%4%61%

-1%

-5%1%8%

-3%1%

6%

5%

4%

Distribution of staff by

service area

2018-19 Annual Report 9

Thank you for helping support women in our community

Major funders

We would like to acknowledge the following funders and supporters for their valuable contribution.

• Government of Western Australia:

- Department of Communities Child Protection and Family Support

- Department of Health (Women and Newborns Health Service)

- Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries

- WA Country Health Service

- WA Mental Health Commission

• Australian Government:

- Department of Social Services

- Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business

- Department of Health

• WA Primary Health Alliance

• Black Swan Health

• Western Australian Police Force, Community Crime Prevention Fund

• Myer Community Fund

• Lotterywest

We also acknowledge our appreciation to the many partnerships with:

• Ngala

• Palmerston

• Jean Hailes

• Jacaranda Community Centre

• 360 Health + Community

• Cyrenian House and North Metro Community Alcohol and Drug Service

• Women’s Community Health Network WA

• Perth Maternity

Donors

We would like to express our gratitude to the organisations who generously donate to us.

• Myers Joondalup

• ABN Group

• Thyroid WA

• Equity Trustees Limited

• Charter Hall

• Bendigo Bank

Financial Statements

We are committed to transparency and accountability in our operations. A complete set of audited financial statements is available at our Annual General Meeting or upon request.

Womens Health & Family Services

227 Newcastle Street, Northbridge WA 6003

PO Box 32, Northbridge WA 6865

T: (08) 6330 5400 F: (08) 6330 5499

E: info@whfs.org.au

Womens Health Care Association Inc

ABN 81 007 269 571

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www.whfs.org.au