EXIT
EXIT

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Supporting women, girls, and gender diverse people in the Loddon Mallee to thrive.

The mental health and wellbeing of women, girls and gender diverse people is shaped by a complex mix of environmental, social, and biological influences across their lives. Persistent gender inequality, gendered violence and intersecting forms of discrimination create unique challenges that limit their ability to protect and improve their wellbeing.  Addressing these gendered barriers is essential for our entire community. The wellbeing of individuals and communities is deeply interconnected – when people thrive, communities thrive, and vice versa.

When women, girls and gender diverse people face systemic obstacles to wellbeing, it prevents our region from reaching its full potential. Women’s Health Loddon Mallee works in partnership with local governments, health services, community groups, and other organisations to apply strategic, evidence-based approaches that support positive wellbeing outcomes for women in our region. We advocate for rural and regional women’s needs to be embedded in service design and delivery, while driving place-based solutions that enhance women’s mental health and wellbeing across the region.

Regional Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Her Mental Health Matters (2025-2028) is the regional strategy to support women, girls, and gender diverse people in the Loddon Mallee to thrive. The strategy guides WHLM’s work, while also serving as a strategic resource for organisations across the Loddon Mallee region who are committed to improving gender equity in health. It provides a framework for collective action that health services, local governments, community organisations and other stakeholders can adapt and implement to address the gendered determinants of mental health and wellbeing. 

 

Regional Mental Health Stats + Facts

COMING SOON

Utilising local data for each of the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the Loddon Mallee, we’ve put together a series of infographic data snapshots on the mental health of women and girls in LGAs of the Loddon Mallee region, presenting key insights into the social, structural, and individual factors that impact wellbeing. Whether acting as protective influences or sources of disadvantage, these factors are essential to understanding and improving mental health outcomes. The infographic covers key areas including: Population Overview, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Women and Girls’ Mental Health, Socio-economic Determinants, Gendered Roles, Women’s Safety, and Intersectionality.

Designed for:

Educators | Health Professionals | Policymakers | Community Workers | Advocates for Women’s Health

Resources

Take a look at our full collection of resources to find research, reports, submissions and more around improving women’s mental health.

Podcasts

Centering Our Voices Audio Series

‘Centering Our Voices’ is an 8-part audio series aimed at raising the voices of women in the Loddon Mallee region that are living with a compromised immune system, or are carers of someone with compromised immunity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bendigo Business Stories

In this podcast episode, Mental Health Promotion Lead, Alison Jones, discusses the gendered mental health and wellbeing impacts of disaster on women in our region.

Impact of COVID-19

COVID and Wellbeing Video Series:

We spoke to women in the Loddon Mallee on camera about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing through the pandemic precautions in regional Victoria in 2020. 

The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Wellbeing:

We spoke to women in our region about the impact of COVID on their mental health and wellbeing through a series of focus groups in 2020.  

Our Strategic Approach to Achieving Change

Strategic Priorities

Please see below a simple overview of our strategic approach to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of women, girls and gender diverse people in across five key priorities.

Enhance Local Evidence

Long-term outcome: The intersectional voices and experiences of women, girls and gender diverse people shape the mental health landscape in the Loddon Mallee .

What can be done:

  • Advocate for the improved collection and availability of sex and gender disaggregated data.
  • Partner with Loddon Mallee Public Health Unit and Murray Primary Health Network to improve the availability and use of sex and gender disaggregated data in mental health planning and service design.
  • Support the delivery of training and resources to regional planners on trauma-informed, culturally safe approaches to engaging with people with lived and living experience.
  • Facilitate inclusive opportunities for women, girls and gender diverse people of all backgrounds to share their lived and living experiences, and advocate for these to inform policy, program planning and design.
  • Amplify the voices of women, girls and gender diverse people to reduce mental health stigma at regional and local levels.
  • Support the development of leadership pathways that empower women, girls and gender diverse people to move from sharing lived experience to actively influencing mental health policy, planning and program delivery.
  • Establish formal research partnerships to address regional knowledge gaps.

Strengthen Community Connections

Long-term outcome: Loddon Mallee women, girls and gender diverse people feel connected in their communities.

What can be done:

  • Promote and, where possible, provide social connection opportunities that target women, girls and gender diverse people who are socially and geographically isolated.
  • Implement mental health promotion initiatives tailored to different groups that highlight the essential role of community connection in building and maintaining mental wellbeing.
  • Support and promote peer-led initiatives that normalise mental health conversations, reduce stigma and address cultural and privacy concerns.
  • Advocate for and support the creation of a regional resource hub that better connects women, girls and gender diverse people with community connection activities.
  • Support and promote community-led initiatives that build social capital for women, girls and gender diverse people.

 

Address Barriers to Support

Long-term outcome: Women, girls and gender diverse people can locate and access inclusive and gender responsive mental health support when they need it.

What can be done:

  • Advocate for and support the creation of regional service navigation information and pathways that are user-friendly, plain language and inclusive of diverse needs.
  • Deliver training and practical resources that support regional health planners and service providers to conduct gender impact assessments on strategies, programs and services that impact community mental health.
  • Provide workforce development opportunities to build health professional knowledge, skills and confidence in gender responsive mental health care.
  • Advocate for mental health system improvements that address gendered challenges and rural barriers, including workforce capacity, distance to care, wait times and service cost.

Empower Individuals to Protect and Improve Their Wellbeing

Long-term outcome: Women, girls and gender diverse people have the knowledge, skills and confidence to actively protect and improve their mental health and wellbeing across different life stages and domains.

What can be done:

  • Develop practical education and resources that address how rigid gender roles, unequal divisions of caregiving and family responsibilities, and the gender pay gap contribute to physical and mental load.
  • Promote and support local parenting and family programs and support groups.
  • Embed mental health impacts into all organisational activities that promote gender equity and address gendered violence.
  • Create accessible resources and campaigns that increase understanding of the link between physical and mental health.
  • Lead or partner to offer women’s wellbeing days targeting older women or those with chronic diseases.
  • Develop education and resources that raise awareness of the mental health and wellbeing impacts of menstruation, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.
  • Continue efforts to ensure local access to safe and appropriate sexual and reproductive health services and information.
  • Partner with financial literacy program providers to offer local education on economic empowerment and financial wellbeing.
  • Create practical education and resources to build knowledge and skills that support resilience building, self-care and personal wellbeing practices,
  • Collaborate with community organisations (particularly those who provide specialised support to youth, gender diverse people, First Nations communities, multicultural communities and older women) to build mutual capacity, share knowledge, and ensure partnerships operate from a foundation of cultural safety and reciprocal learning.

Embed Mental Health in Community Settings

Long-term outcome: Community settings across the Loddon Mallee region promote and support the mental health and wellbeing of women, girls and gender diverse people.

What can be done:

  • Support the integration of gender responsive mental health information, resources and initiatives in community settings like libraries, neighbourhood houses, and schools.
  • Develop nature-based mental health initiatives that improve access to the region’s natural environments, community gardens and other green spaces.
  • Build the capacity of employers to create workplace cultures that promote gender equity and mental health and prevent gendered violence.
  • Provide training and practical resources that support regional organisations to apply a gendered approach to strategies, programs and services that impact community mental health.
  • Support community organisations and groups to lead gender responsive mental health initiatives.
  • Lead activities that ensure gender equity is central to addressing the health and wellbeing impacts of climate change, emergency and disaster situations.

Relevant Articles

Campaspe Shire Home Matters Survey

We want to hear from women and gender diverse people in Campaspe about their housing experiences, so we can shape solutions that reflect real lives and needs.
Campaigns
June 3, 2026

Statement: Now is not the time to go backwards. We need prevention more than ever.
Campaigns
December 18, 2025

Menopause Month 2025 Online Learning Series

We’re offering a series of online menopause information sessions during the month of October to mark World Menopause Day on 18th October.
Campaigns
August 29, 2025

Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Survey

Provide us with a snapshot of your thoughts around what supports your mental health and wellbeing to inform planning and service delivery for women and gender diverse people in the Loddon Mallee Region.
Campaigns
February 18, 2025

Learn more about Women's Health Loddon Mallee

Training + Consultancy
Sexual Health Clinics
CARE Partnership
Resources