Celebrating International Women’s Day

8 March 2011

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on 8 March to honour women’s actions and achievements, and to recognise the continuing challenges in achieving equity and fairness.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the rally of over a million European women on 19 March 1911, when they called for the right of women to vote, work and hold public office. In 1913, International Women’s Day moved to 8 March, on which date it has been held since.

This year, International Women’s Day theme is ‘Celebrating 100 Years’.

In Victoria, we recognise there are health issues that are particularly important to women including inequalities in health outcomes for women in key population groups.

The Department of Health is working to reduce health inequalities in a range of ways including:

• Closing the gap in life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria
• Developing regional population health plans that identify priority populations and places and working with health services to reduce access barriers
• Maximising the department’s ability to tackle determinants of health inequality

Further information

To find out more visit the International Women’s Day website.