Associate Professor Nina Lansbury, Olivia Milsom, Minnie King and Siale King will bring remote women’s health to the forefront in Napranum at the first Western CapeHER forum from 5-6 June. Photo: Supplied.
Health challenges faced by women in remote communities will be brought to the forefront in an inaugural forum in Napranum this week.
The Western CapeHER Women’s Health Forum will be hosted by the University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland Health, and Aboriginal-owned business Embley Contracting on 5-6 June, and is set to empower community members to share health priorities and highlight the challenges of women living on Cape York.
Weipa local and UQ researcher Minnie King said the forum was a rare opportunity to ask women about their experiences with remote health services, adding that while the event was not exclusive to First Nations women, it was vital to understand culture in the context of health.
“The health services we currently have were built around us, but not for us; what we need is to shape the health service for us,” she explained.
“This is the first part of a bigger conversation about remote health and health services.
“This is a profound opportunity, and we may only get this one opportunity, so we will take this rare opportunity to make our voices count.”
The forum comes after Ms King and other researchers UQ collaborated to create a culturally appropriate menstrual and puberty teaching guide, which was launched at Western Cape College in November 2024.
“From there, we did quite a few interviews with women and health organisations in the Western Cape, mostly in Weipa, but a little bit in Napranum and Mapoon,” UQ Associate Professor Nina Lansbury said.
“What we realised is, we started hearing bigger stories beyond periods to menopause and incontinence and endometriosis, so lots of issues related to fertility.
“There was a real feeling expressed in those interviews that the services available for women in remote communities are just so different to regional areas, and even more so from urban areas, and they felt their lived experiences were not heard by decision makers.”
There are only a few free tickets left, so visit the forum website and scan the QR code to register.
