The Organisation

	Funding
	Governance
	Decision making
	Members

Funding

WHV's primary source of income is the Victorian Department of Human Services. As part of the Victorian Women's Health Program a funding and service agreement is negotiated for a three year period with the Primary and Community Health Branch of the Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division.

WHV also obtains funding from other sources. These generally include grants for specific projects from either Government sources or philanthropic trusts.

Women’s Health Victoria’s Deductible Gift Status enables us to receive donations for which donors are able to claim a tax deduction for gifts or donations to the value of $2 or more and, to be the recipient of bequests.

The Women’s Health Victoria Fund is a sub fund of the Melbourne Community Foundation, established to manage donations and bequests in perpetuity. Donated funds are used to pursue priority issues in women’s health.

Governance

Women's Health Victoria is governed by a voluntary Council of between eight and twelve members elected from the organisation's membership. Council's work has four major components: formulating strategy; setting policies; providing accountability; and the Executive Director's performance review.

The work includes a focus on the external environment in which the organisation exists and on the internal operations of the organisation. Council members are aware of the level of responsibility through an annual work plan which is incorporated in the Council meeting's agenda.

Council operates within a set of policies and active procedures that provide a governance framework for the organisation. These policies and procedures encompass the governance framework, role of Council, conflict of interest, structure of meetings, delegations, orientation, evaluation, succession planning together with learning and development of Council.

Council's work is assisted by several Task Groups through which strategic work is progressed. These Task Groups are made up of both Council and staff members and report to the Council on a regular basis.

Decision-making

The following philosophy underpins the organisation's culture and the way the organisation works. Performance enhancing aspects of empowerment come from the participative industrial relations within the organisation.

Committed to a feminist philosophy, Women's Health Victoria combines:

• participative management, consensus, workplace democracy and every individual having a voice, and

• clear decision making, accountability, creation of a dynamic strategic directions process and implementation of continuous improvement processes.

The strategy development and review process used by Women's Health Victoria was adopted because it developed the organisation's capability in fundamental aspects of strategy formulation. The process involves Council and staff in making decisions using known, objective frameworks.

These frameworks are also used to make other decisions in the organisation. They facilitate Council and staff members sharing the knowledge and skills they bring to the organisation.

Members

Membership is on an annual basis and members are able to nominate for Council and vote in elections. Membership is free but members are required to agree with our Statement of Purposes annually.

Some of the the main reasons women become members of Women's Health Victoria include:

• an interest in women's health
• to keep informed of current issues
• an interest in Women's Health Victoria
• to network with other women about women's health
• to pass on their knowledge about women's health.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Women's Health Victoria, simply complete our online membership form or alternatively print the membership application form (PDF 65KB) to mail or fax as directed on the form.

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