Index of Women’s Health and Wellbeing Data

Women’s Health Victoria would like to see the ‘Victorian Index of Women’s Health and Wellbeing Data’ (The Index – www.theindex.org.au) expanded to a national level.

The Index is run by Women’s Health Victoria to provide a gateway to Victorian women’s health data resources. The Index incorporates over 70 indicators of health and wellbeing relevant to a social model of health such as living arrangements, paid and unpaid work, violence against women and social connectedness. It acts as a gateway to various external reports, surveys, and other sources of quantitative data from Commonwealth and State government departments and institutes, university research departments, non-government organisations, independent research bodies and academic publications.

We want The Index to include data on all Australian women, not just those living in Victoria. Our website usage statistics show that demand and use of The Index goes beyond Victoria with a considerable proportion of users coming from other states in Australia. Although the website has been running for nearly two years and the infrastructure is in place, we can only do so much within our current funding limitations. We need more support to expand The Index to cover all Australian women. Making The Index national is vital in raising awareness and addressing health inequities for women across Australia.