How Australia came to have a National Women's Health Policy

A National Women's Health Policy was launched in Australia in 1989, and Australia became the only country to have a comprehensive policy on women's health. The policy is intended to provide a framework for decision-making in both mainstream and separate women's health services. The au...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of health services Vol. 28; no. 1; p. 107
Main Author Gray, G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 1998
Subjects
Australia
Community Participation
Decision Making, Organizational
Female
Health Policy - legislation & jurisprudence
Health Policy - trends
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Labor Unions
National Health Programs
Politics
Women's Health
Women's Rights
Women, Working
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Summary:A National Women's Health Policy was launched in Australia in 1989, and Australia became the only country to have a comprehensive policy on women's health. The policy is intended to provide a framework for decision-making in both mainstream and separate women's health services. The author examines the forces and factors that led to the formulation and adoption of the policy, then addresses the question of why Australia is alone in choosing a national policy as a focus for women's health action. A number of key influences, either absent or weaker in comparable countries, worked together to facilitate policy development. The activities of women working in a number of arenas coincided with the election of relatively supportive governments, creation of women's policy machinery in bureaucracies, employment of feminists in key positions, and opportunities for policy expansion afforded by federalism. These influences, within the Australian ideological context of strong support for social liberalism, account for the country's distinctive policy position.
ISSN:0020-7314
DOI:10.2190/PCPL-8XA9-WKXU-D1A3