This International Day of Rural Women, we're highlighting how our Women's Health Mobile Clinic is helping women access essential healthcare closer to home.
For many women living outside metropolitan areas, accessing healthcare can mean travelling long distances, taking time away from work or family, or navigating limited local services.
For nurse practitioner Robyn, these barriers are all too familiar.
“It’s very important to provide these services for women and girls in regional areas. As we know, one of the main barriers women and girls face is access to free and confidential care.”
Practical challenges can often prevent women from prioritising their health.
“Often it's down to time. Taking time off work, time off school, organising childcare arrangements, and having to travel quite far distances just to access care.”
To help address these challenges, our Women's Health Mobile Clinic brings healthcare directly into local communities. The program provides free, 45-minute confidential appointments with a nurse practitioner or experienced sexual & reproductive health nurse. The free service offers support across a range of health areas, including cervical screening, perimenopause and menopause care and management, contraception advice and access, pelvic pain management, STI testing and treatment, bladder concerns and bowel health.
Since launching in January 2025, the service has reached 48 regional communities across Victoria and delivered more than 1,440 appointments, including over 450 cervical screening tests and 97 bowel screening kits.
Working alongside local health sector partners and community groups, the service is helping women access healthcare that may otherwise be difficult to reach.
“We’ve found that bringing women’s healthcare to regional and rural communities allows women and girls to feel safe and confident to talk about their health concerns.”
The team also connects women with local health and support services, helping ensure they can continue receiving care close to home.
For Robyn, the impact of the service goes beyond appointment numbers.
“The work that we do is extremely rewarding. One of the things we often hear from clients is that they feel heard, which is just amazing to be part of.”
By bringing healthcare closer to home, the Women's Health Mobile Clinic is helping women overcome barriers to care and creating more opportunities for women in rural and regional communities to prioritise their health and wellbeing.
To find out where the Women's Health Mobile Clinic will be visiting next, view the clinic schedule here: Better healthcare access for women in rural and regional Victoria | BreastScreen Victoria
