Grounded in culture, the South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation, hereafter known as Waminda, is a powerhouse for creating substantive change, pushback and positive health outcomes for women and their Aboriginal families. As an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Waminda continues to be led by the women and communities it supports, which is based on the philosophy of “for the community, by the community“. Waminda’s decolonising Model of Care ensures women’s voices are amplified and centred to prioritise self-determination for tailored strengths-based and trauma-informed delivery of services.
Waminda delivers culturally safe and holistic wrap-around services to women and their Aboriginal families from communities all up and down the South Coast of New South Wales, stretching from Wollongong in the North to Eden down South. As a centre of excellence for women’s health, Waminda exemplifies leadership in linking culture with education, health and well-being, with a primary focus on addressing the social determinants of health to reclaim generational wellness. Waminda provides multidisciplinary clinical services triaged by Aboriginal Health Practitioners including General Practitioner clinics, allied health, sexual and reproductive health, midwifery, early childhood services, integrated cancer and chronic condition care and primary health prevention such as the Dead or Deadly program. Waminda’s wrap-around services extend to healing counsellors, after-hours suicide prevention support, case management, family preservation and restoration, youth programs, Elders support and women’s gatherings. Furthermore, Waminda has embarked on social and cultural enterprise initiatives such as decolonisation workshops, supported employment and education, and the Blak Cede Gunyah cafe and shop which is strongly connected to Waminda’s Kareela Ngura Traditional garden.
The growth of Waminda is a true testament to the strength, resilience, and persistence of the Old Peoples, Elders, and women who have paved the way and built the organisation into what it is today. Although Waminda has seen significant development and success over the years, its purpose remains genuine, and it has never lost sight of why it is needed in the communities.
Waminda’s journey began in the early 1980s when the local Aboriginal community raised concerns about the lack of appropriate health services for Aboriginal women and their families. Difficulty accessing mainstream health services and often the lack of cultural safety and understanding meant there were several contentious issues around women’s health. Aboriginal women endured social and emotional ill-health, isolation and stress, so in 1984, an Aboriginal women’s health centre was established. The centre was funded by the Health Department under the auspice of Jilimi the Shoalhaven Women’s Health and Resource Corporation to service Aboriginal families living in the Shoalhaven area. In the late 1980s, a change of incorporation occurred, Jilimi no longer existed and the South Coast Women’s Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation – Waminda was formally established in 1990.
Since the beginning, it has been important for Waminda to take an active role in advocating for the healthcare rights of Aboriginal women and influencing mainstream services to be more culturally sensitive in order to improve accessibility and overall health outcomes for the community. Due to its large membership base, Waminda continues to have a deep and intimate knowledge of the local Aboriginal communities it represents and walks alongside. The strategic direction of the organisation is guided by the wisdom of the seven dedicated Aboriginal female board members who lobby and advocate on behalf of women and their Aboriginal families in the region and prioritise strong governance throughout the organisation. In turn, the organisation has also grown into an employer of choice and the largest employer of Aboriginal women nationally; increasing staffing levels from 5 to 170 employees. Moving forward, Waminda will continue to truth-tell, push back against systems of oppression and lead the way in supporting women and their Aboriginal families to live self-determined and culturally rich lives.
