Northeast Health Wangaratta has continued key conversations around gender equity as it heads towards International Women’s Day on Wednesday 8th March.
The international theme for 2023 is #embraceequity and the health service said it would encourage its team to think about how their work impacts gender equality.
Chief Executive Officer, Libby Fifis said Northeast Health Wangaratta continues to be committed to progressing gender equity, understanding that gender balance is not solely a women’s issue.
“We know that about 80% of our workforce identify as female and we have strong female leadership, however that doesn’t mean we are kicking all of the gender equity goals,” Ms Fifis said.
NHW’s Gender Equality Action Plan 2022-26 has a strong focus on education and training, as well as practical measures such as providing a breastfeeding spaces at NHW campuses.
“Our Gender Equality Action Plan was developed in consultation with our staff, including surveys and audits, and sets out key goals to further support gender equality across our service.”
“From our previous workforce gender audit, we know that women are taking on the majority of caring responsibilities and some areas are still subject to gender stereotypes.”
“We are excited to see progression in areas such as longer paid parental leave, provisions of superannuation payment when on unpaid parental leave, and more opportunities to learn about challenging biases and becoming more inclusive”.
“Our message on International Women’s Day is that embracing equity looks different for everyone, so we encourage everyone to find their way to embrace equity.”
“This could be listening to a podcast read a book about gender equity, or thinking about how their approach to work or play impacts on gender equity.”
