Women and mental health services

Key messages

Victorian mental health services have a duty to cater to the particular needs and promote improved services for women.

Victorian public mental health services have a responsibility to meet women’s particular needs and to promote improved services for women.

This includes:

providing services responsive to the needs of women with mental illness who are parents
considering the relationship between parenting and mental illness
ensuring practices do not exclude women who are parents from using services
delivering services responsive to the needs of women with experience of sexual assault
using trauma-informed practice to provide a safe, non-threatening environment
developing inpatient and residential services that provide safety and privacy
delivering services responsive to the needs of older women
providing services that are responsive to the needs of women who are carers of people with a mental illness
increasing participation of women in mental health community support services.

Reviewed 25 March 2022