• Introduction

• Group Education Programs / Workshops

• One-off Education / Training Sessions

• Support Groups

• Childcare

• Health Outcomes

• Affiliations

• Staff, Supervision, Support and Training

• Student Placements and Volunteers

• Lobbying and Advocacy

• Partnerships

• Networking with other Agencies

• Community Events

• Legal Service

• Acknowledgements

Introduction

Immigrant Women's Health Service has grown as an organisation in the last year. We have continued to run our existing programs and have added new programs to our work with women. We have been involved in an exercise that clarified what we were doing and where we were going. We have finalised our policy and procedure manuals. These developments placed our organisation in a better position to respond to the many needs and challenges faced by our members, other stakeholders, and the community of which we are all a part.

We have done all this on top of the normal everyday work of each of our projects. Sometimes it seemed that we were almost too busy and too involved in the day-to-day running of our projects, which work with over 5,000 women and their families in a year, to sit back and consider where we were heading and how we could get there. I think it is a testament to this grand old organisation that it has the maturity to see the value in looking forward. An organisation that has a sound past and a solid present should look forward to a bright future.

The organisation is stable, well managed and fully staffed with the appropriate infrastructure in place to operate effectively. Service management and staff are committed to meeting the needs of women and facing the challenges that lie ahead.

There was a change of management during the year and the new Management Committee is composed of women from various professional and ethnic backgrounds. They have expertise in domestic violence, rural, aged, disability, childcare, employment, training and welfare services. They are experienced in participating in ethnic communities and organisations, and have a good understanding of immigrant and refugee women's issues. They make an invaluable contribution in the governance of the organisation and in mentoring and assisting the staff in their various projects. We wish to say goodbuye to those who have resigned during the year and we thank them for their valuable contribution. Thank you to those who continued, for their dedication and commitment through the year.

Immigrant Women's Health Service continued to consult with our members and friends to keep their major concerns and hopes as the focus of all our work. We researched the main needs of migrant and refugee women not met by the government and non-government service providers, the major groups that needed to be reached, and the partnerships which we must develop. Areas of concern included:

• Domestic violence,
• Employment,
• Education,
• Racism and prejudice,
• Safety,
• Isolation, and
• Services for asylum seekers and holders of Temporary Protection Visa.

The need for information and referral is still a top priority for women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD). Throughout this year we worked hard to provide resources and support to agencies and organisations that deliver services for immigrant and refugee women. We have completed training for service providers in prolonged effects of domestic violence and sexual assaults. There were also other forms of support such as auspicing projects for new organisations, writing support letters for funding submissions, advice on establishing new women's organisations and holding group activities to support grassroots CALD women to raise their self-esteem and self -confidence.

During the year the centre was involved in a range of health promotion activities. These included providing speakers on women's health and related topics to a variety of groups of local women, and other agencies. In addition, staff conducted groups/workshops on areas of need identified through the centre's services or in response to community requests. The service was also involved in a number of community development projects aimed at promoting good health, building community connections and working in partnership to address health priorities.

Many of the talks and courses focused on promoting women's reproductive health placing an emphasis on preventative health measures, and encouraging women to have regular health checks.

Overall, the estimated number of contacts made with women participating in service health promotion activities was 2,540.

^ Back to top

Group Education Programs / Workshops

Apart from health talks, the groups also engaged in a wide range of health-enhancing activities. These included baking, fruit and vegetable carving, vegetarian cooking, walking around the community, greeting card making, crocheting, knitting, purse-making, extreme make over, and self-defense sessions.

• Self Esteem - 6 sessions
• Parenting - 8 sessions
• Health Matters for Women - 4 sessions
• Meditation - 10 sessions
• Contraception - 2 sessions
• Menopause - 2 sessions
• Stress Management - 6 sessions
• Laughter - 4 sessions

Overall 398 women participated in the Group Education Programs/Workshops from 13 cultural backgrounds.

^ Back to top

One-off Education / Training Sessions

IWHS continued its role in providing single information sessions on a range of women's health issues to various communities. This performs not only a health education training function but also increases referrals and community support. 450 women from 15 cultural backgrounds participated in the one-off information sessions on topics including:

• Physical health (healthy eating, nutrition, importance of exercise, weight management, food safety)
• Physical illnesses (diabetes, arthritis)
• Women's sexual and reproductive health (preventative tests, menopause, HIV and AIDS)
• Emotional health (stress management, adjustment problems)
• Violence against women (domestic violence)
• Dealing with Drugs
• Dealing with Gambling
• Financial Counselling and Employment
• Mental Health
• Contraception/STDs
• Healthy Bones
• Prolonged effects of DV and SA

^ Back to top

Support Groups

In 2004-2005 the following groups met at the Fairfield centre:

• Arabic women's support group
• Assyrian Women's Group
• Spanish speaking women's group
• English classes / TAFE
• English classes for all
• English classes for the protection visa holders
• Samoan women's support group
• New Zealand women's support group
• Sudanese women's group
• Congolese women's group
• Serbian Women's support group
• Turkish women's group

Overall 350 women from 16 cultural backgrounds attended the groups listed in the table below: Group Participation Fairfield Centre.

A first point of contact with the service is the reception and waiting area, which aims to provide a welcoming environment for women. For staff at times this can be a very demanding and stressful place dealing with busy phones or women walking in off the street. Over the year the centre has continued to be able to meet the level of demand for almost all of its appointment based services.

IWHS had received over than 3,000 calls inquiring about the various issues such as:

• Abortion clinics in the LGA
• Counselling
• Legal inquiries
• Female doctors
• Volunteer work request
• Student placement requirement
• Health and hygiene related information
• DV cases
• Referral from other agencies
• Local service for young mums
• Local service for older women
• English classes

Through the year, IWHS has successfully addressed the language barrier as a main deterrent to access through various strategies, including the Health Care Interpreter Service. This service has tremendously supported us in the provision of interpreters to a majority of the women who came for consultation.

^ Back to top

Childcare

Immigrant Women's Health Service is committed to providing childcare where necessary to enable women to access services. A total of 14 groups conducted at the Fairfield Centre each week required childcare. 32 numbers of children from 15 cultural backgrounds were provided with childcare per each school term.

^ Back to top

Health Outcomes

The benefits for women utilising the service provided include being able to access relevant health information and referrals. In particular they are informed about preventative health measures such as Pap smears and breast checks and other practices for maintaining good health, as appropriate to their needs.

Additional benefits reported by participants in group programs include a reduction in stress, improved flexibility and fitness, improved coping skills and enhancement of self esteem and self confidence. Group leaders always work to promote social networking amongst the participants and hence reduce the sense of isolation experienced by so many women.

^ Back to top

Affiliations

Immigrant Women's Health Service is a member of Women's Health NSW a state-wide, peak body organisation of community based, feminist non-government women's health centers. The IWHS participates in the quarterly Women's Health NSW conference for members to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest, to exchange ideas, share skills and participate in training.

The service continued to participate in the South West Women's Action Network (SWWAN) which involves the four women's health centers in south west Sydney who are members of Women's Health NSW. This forum has been useful for discussion on developing joint funding submissions, organising joint staff training and lobbying on issues of joint concern. The Network generally meets 3 times per year and communicates informally on a regular basis.

^ Back to top

Staff, Supervision, Support and Training

IWHS has an annual staff appraisal system. it is a valuable tool for reviewing staff achievements against plans, skills and the areas requiring further development. The Manager has continued to receive supervision on monthly basis. Many thanks to Margo Moore for her support, skills and motivated thoughts.

Capacity Building activities were organised for staff every quarter to enhance and upgrade the level of skills, knowledge and information. Networking and sharing were also indicated as a strong outcome of the capacity building days. Staff training during 2004-2005 included:

• Fire and safety in the workplace
• Domestic violence
• First Aid
• Team work and networking

^ Back to top

Student Placements and Volunteers

The service is committed to providing students with a sound training experience and quality supervision. Over the year, the service has also provided information to many students completing assignments.

IWHS recognises that volunteers make a valuable and vital contribution to the effective operation of community based services and recognises that, when based on sound principles, volunteering benefits the volunteers, the organisation, its projects and the community which profits from these services. Therefore IWHS has developed and endorsed its volunteer policy during this year.

^ Back to top

Lobbying and Advocacy

An important aspect of being a health service for immigrant and refugee women is incporating a social view of health which sees that the way our society is structed has implications for the health of women from CALD communities. This means that not only do we provide individually focussed services but that we also actively campaign for social change to improve women's lives generally and prevent individually focussed problems from continuing to recur. We use various strategies which could include participating in rallies, organising public events, responding to local media, collecting signatures for petitions, media releases, and discussion forums.

^ Back to top

Partnerships

A partnerships approach has been strongly utilised in the overall work of the service. Partnerships produce better outcomes for women, empowerment for staff and optimism about developing new networks. It is all about sharing knowledge, resources and expertise and the ability to meet goals and needs on a larger scale.

IWHS would also like to acknowledge the work of the following women and the support of their organisations:

• Judith Solyom, solicitor from the Women's Legal Services NSW who provided legal advice to women at the service on a fortnightly basis during the year. Many thanks to Women's Legal Services for providing a solicitor on site.
• Bankstown Community Health Centre through the presence of Jeanette Holloway, Women's Health Nurse, who provided fortnightly health checks for women at the Cabramatta office and facilitated the development of this service in spite of lack of ongoing funds.
• Mission Australia for providing outreach English language classes at the Fairfield and Cabramatta Offices.
• Margaret McCulloch, outreach coordinator, Wetherill Park TAFE for providing outreach English language classes at the Fairfield Office.
• Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre, Spanish Speaking Community Settlement Services Project Cabramatta Office.
• Cambodian Australian Welfare Council of NSW for the partnership with Cabramatta office.

^ Back to top

Networking with other Agencies

Developing functional and productive networks with agencies with similar or overlapping objectives is an integral part of service provision. Networking facilitates information exchange, sharing of expertise, supports relevant issues and allows for women issues to become part of a public forum. IWHS is fortunate to link with the local communities and ethno specific agencies and would like to extend the appreciation to the following organisations and networks.

• Khmer Community of NSW
• Serbian Welfare Association
• Fairfield Community Health Centre
• Cabramatta Community Health Centre
• Fairfield Community Resource Centre
• Spanish and Latino American Service for Social Assistance
• Break Screen Greater Western NSW
• Fairfield City Council
• Fairfield Youth Accommodation Service
• Liverpool Women's Health Service
• Bankstown Women's Health Service
• Women's Health NSW
• TAFE Outreach, Wetherill Park
• Vietnamese Community in Australia
• House of Welcome
• Multicultural respite care
• Assyrian Welfare Association
• The Education Centre Against Violence
• Fairfield Museum and Gallery
• Turkish Welfare Association
• Mission Australia
• Non English Speaking Women's Housing
• Multicultural Families First
• Fairfield Division of General Practice

^ Back to top

Community Events

Refugee Week

In partnership with many organisations, IWHS joined the Family Fun Day celebration (which was organised by Fairfield Immigrant and Refugee Women's network (FIRWN) by hosting the event and having an information stall. The event was held on 7 October 2004, where more than 250 women and their families participated.

International Women's Day

The centre celebrated International Women's Day on 9th March 2005. On the day, the program focussed on providing women with legal information involving women's concerns such as family law, divorce and domestic violence their rights and legal services which enabled them to seek help when needed. The day was assisted by Heather Nagle, a solicitor from South West Sydney Legal Centre. The session was also useful according to some participants as they felt empowered with confidence and knowledge in regards to legal matters. There were 67 CALD women participating in the discussion.

After the information session, all participants had a multicultural food sharing where food was prepared by different groups: Khmer, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Healthy Heart Week

The service celebrated Healthy Heart Week on 6th May 2005 by providing an information session, in partnership with Fairfield Division of General Practice, on healthy heart practice for the Vietnamese community. The session aimed at raising awareness on keeping healthy hearts, GP check-ups, and the importance of having regular exercise. The session was facilitated by Dr Xuyen Tran where 56 women were present.

Multicultural Health Week

IWHS joined the Multicultural Health Week by presenting a Health Information stall in Fairfield and Cabramatta areas.

^ Back to top

Legal Service

The outreach legal service provided through the Women's Legal Resource Centre and commenced operation at the Fairfield office in January 1996.

A female solicitor attends on a fortnightly basis. The clients come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds including Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish speaking and Assyrian. The service uses interpreters for most of the outreach visits.

The majority of women who uses the service are migrant women with very limited knowledge of the English language and also very limited knowledge of the Australian legal system. Their situations are further complicated by the fact that many of them are unemployed; they are supportin children and may have experienced war, trauma, and torture in their lives. The clients at the service have high needs and the legal support services they can afford to access in the general community are very limited.

The women seek assistance and advice in the following matters:

• Family law including divorce
• Maintenance and custody
• Domestic violence
• Overseas abduction
• Centrelink issues
• Consumer related problems
• Victim's compensation
• Sexual assaults
• Will and probate
• General legal inquiries
• Property settlement
• Debt advice

^ Back to top

Acknowledgments

My appreciation goes to:

• The NSW Health Department and the Sydney South West Area Health Service.
• My colleagues at IWHS and the group facilitators. Surely, I would not have been able to achieve much without them.
• The management committee of IWHS for supporting me and providing guidance to unfathomed mysteries of service management.
• My colleague organisations within and outside the local area.
• And finally I would like to deeply thank our volunteers and group leaders. These women have kindly donated their time and taken on a leadership role in the groups they are part of. They contact the group at the start of each term and are the liaison person between the workers of IWHS and the group. Their dedication and hard work is greatly appreciated by all at IWHS.

Thank you all. Looking forward to another year of achievements and partnerships.

Dr Eman Sharobeem
Manager IWHS

^ Back to top