Fair Access Wherever You Live

Yes. Abortion was decriminalised in Victoria in 2008, and subsequent reforms have strengthened legal protections, including Safe Access Zones and the requirement for health practitioners with a conscientious objection to refer patients to another provider. 

Legal rights alone do not ensure people can access care when and where they need it. This campaign is not about changing the law. It is about ensuring those legal rights translate into equitable access to abortion care across the Loddon Mallee.

Victoria has already made significant progress through legislative reform, workforce development and investment in sexual and reproductive health services. The foundations for improving abortion access are already in place. However, access to abortion care across the Loddon Mallee remains uneven. Continued investment is needed to ensure existing reforms translate into consistent, equitable access by strengthening the regional workforce, improving referral pathways and investing in the services, infrastructure and models of care that make equitable access possible.

The Loddon Mallee is Victoria’s largest region by land area, covering more than 58,000 square kilometres and stretching from Melbourne’s outer northern fringe to Mildura. It includes major regional centres, fast-growing peri-urban communities, rural towns and remote communities, each with different populations, health service capacity and access challenges. The region also spans ten local government areas and two distinct sub-regions, creating considerable variation in how healthcare is planned and delivered.  

While Victoria has made significant progress in improving access to abortion care, access across the Loddon Mallee remains uneven. Workforce availability, referral pathways, public surgical abortion capacity and local access to supporting services such as ultrasound, pathology and dispensing pharmacies all vary across the region. As a result, where a person lives can still influence how quickly they access care, how far they need to travel and the options available to them.  

A one-size-fits-all approach will not address these challenges. Strengthening the regional workforce, improving referral pathways and investing in services, infrastructure and flexible models of care will help ensure every community across the Loddon Mallee can access timely, equitable abortion care.

These recommendations were developed through evidence review, regional data, stakeholder engagement and policy analysis, and refined through consultation with regional service providers, statewide organisations and system partners. Together, they address the key barriers to equitable abortion care identified through the project by strengthening the regional workforce, improving referral pathways and investing in the services, infrastructure and models of care needed to improve equitable access across the Loddon Mallee. 

This campaign builds on the Victorian Government’s significant investment in women’s health, including legislative reform, Women’s Health Clinics, SRH Hubs, the Virtual Women’s Health Clinic and statewide navigation through 1800 My Options. Rather than creating new systems, the campaign focuses on strengthening and expanding these existing investments to ensure people across the Loddon Mallee can access equitable abortion care regardless of where they live. 

Improving equitable access to abortion care will benefit everyone across the Loddon Mallee. It is particularly important for people who experience additional barriers to healthcare, including Aboriginal communities, people with disabilities, migrant and refugee communities, trans and gender diverse people, young people, people experiencing financial hardship and people who are not eligible for Medicare. Health professionals and health services will also benefit from stronger workforce support, clearer referral pathways and a more coordinated regional system. 

Success means where someone lives no longer determines their access to abortion care. People across the Loddon Mallee can access timely, affordable and appropriate abortion care through a sustainable regional workforce, clear and consistent referral pathways, and services, infrastructure and flexible models of care that respond to the diverse needs of communities across the region. It means legal rights are matched by equitable access, ensuring access is determined by a person’s healthcare needs and reproductive choices, rather than their postcode, income or personal circumstances. 

Victoria has invested in a range of services that support abortion care across the Loddon Mallee and across Victoria. These include SRH Hubs, Women’s Health Clinics (place-based, virtual, mobile and Aboriginal clinics), 1800 My Options, public hospitals, community health services and primary care providers. Together these services provide information, counselling, contraception, medical abortion, referral for surgical abortion and broader sexual and reproductive healthcare. 

Service access and limitations in the Loddon Mallee region are outlined in the diagrams above.

For a list of sexual and reproductive health services for women and gender diverse people in our region visit this webpage.