Bridging the Gender Pain Gap: From Understanding to Action

Women's pain is too often dismissed, minimised or left undiagnosed. That pattern is not inevitable. It is produced by how systems of care are designed, funded and connected, which means organisations in our region can change it.

In August 2026, more than 70 practitioners from health, community, social services, family violence and multicultural sectors came together for the first Bridging the Gender Pain Gap workshop, hosted by Women's Health in the South East (WHISE). Guided by women with lived experience and the Victorian Government's Bridging the Gender Pain Gap report, participants mapped where systems are falling short and what could change. They also asked for a next step: a chance to move from shared understanding to shared action.

This workshop is that next step.

Over two hours online, you will work in a small, facilitated breakout room on one of nine priority themes identified in Workshop 1. Together, your room will shape one clear, realistic action that organisations in the region can start within the next three months, using resources they already have, led by a named person from a partner organisation.

Ideas that need new funding, policy change or a longer timeframe will not be lost. They will feed a shared regional advocacy agenda and the work of a possible regional Community of Practice on women's pain.

You do not need to have attended Workshop One. The session opens with a short synthesis of what we heard, so everyone starts from the same place.

The nine priority themes

When you register, you will be asked to choose the three themes most relevant to your work. We will use your choices to allocate breakout rooms.

·         Coordination and navigation

·         Workforce capability

·         Culturally safe communication and interpreters

·         First Nations partnership

·         Cross-sector links between pain, family violence, mental health and alcohol and other drugs

·         Community-based entry points to care

·         Lived experience leadership

·         Responses for priority populations

·         A shared advocacy agenda

This workshop is designed for people working across:

·         Primary care, hospital and allied health services

·         Community health and social services

·         Mental health, disability, alcohol and other drugs, and family and sexual violence sectors

·         Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and First Nations services

·         Multicultural, migrant, refugee and asylum seeker services and community organisations

·         LGBTIQA+ services, including trans and gender diverse community organisations

·         Health promotion, policy and advocacy roles

·         Local, state and federal government, peak bodies and regional planning networks

We particularly welcome people working in policy and advocacy, First Nations leaders, LGBTIQA+ and trans and gender diverse representatives, multicultural community leaders, and men working in health and community services. Workshop 1 participants told us these perspectives need to be part of the response, and we agree.

Participants will:

·         Reconnect with the system gaps and opportunities identified in Workshop 1

·         Hear guest presentations on current work across the health system

·         Work through a structured action planning process in a small breakout room

·         Agree one specific, timebound action for their theme, with a named lead and a first step in the next 30 days

·         Identify commitments to take back to their own organisation

·         Help shape the purpose and next steps for a regional Community of Practice on women's pain

The workshop aims to:

·         Turn shared understanding into practical, owned action across the region

·         Build on the programs, relationships and practice already working in our region

·         Strengthen connections between sectors that too often work in isolation

·         Lay the groundwork for ongoing regional collaboration

Getting the most from the day

This is a working session. Each breakout room will leave with an action that someone in the room agrees to lead. If you can commit your organisation to a small, practical step, or can check with someone who can before the day, please come ready to do so. A breakout room worksheet will be shared on screen by your room's scribe, so you do not need to prepare anything in advance.

Event details

Location: Online via Zoom. The link will be sent to registered participants before the event.
Date: Wednesday 28 October
Time: 10am to 12pm

Accessibility requirements: We want this workshop to be accessible to as many people as possible. Please tell us in the registration form about any requirements that will support you to participate, such as live captioning or an interpreter, and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Content note: This workshop discusses women's experiences of pain and health care and may touch on family violence. If this raises anything for you, 1800RESPECT is available 24 hours a day on 1800 737 732.

Hosted by Women's Health in the South East (WHISE), with partners across the Southern Metropolitan Region.

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If you would like to support the work WHISE does to advance gender equality in the Southern Metropolitan Region, please donate to WHISE. Together, we can create a future where everyone can thrive.

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