New medical illustrations put diversity and accessibility at the heart of women's health

The project, launched in 2025, includes medical diagrams and accompanying illustrations of women from a range of ethnic backgrounds. It’s just one of the ways we’re making our health content more inclusive, culturally sensitive and easy to understand.

Alex Clark, who manages the Jean Hailes design team, said the illustrations were created to meet the needs of a broader audience.

"In the past, we used stock imagery or project-specific illustrations that looked inconsistent across our materials," said Alex. "We wanted to change this to a cohesive style that used plain language and was easy for everyone to understand."

“A key focus of the project was ensuring the illustrations felt hand-drawn and natural – and that they represented diverse body shapes and ages,” explains Alex.

To ensure the illustrations are culturally appropriate, we worked closely with Ethnolink – Australia’s leading multicultural translation service – to engage with Arabic, Vietnamese and Punjabi communities. The feedback from these consultation sessions led to refinements in the illustrations.

"Community members asked for more variety in skin colours, body shapes and even details like hairstyles and makeup," Alex said. "In the Lebanese community, for instance, women helped us adjust the way the hijab was illustrated to better reflect their traditions."

We also wanted to avoid highly medicalised imagery that can be intimidating or alienating. Unlike traditional clinical diagrams, our new illustrations show complete bodies rather than isolated body parts – helping our audience better understand anatomy and health in context.

“We learned through consultations that floating body parts can be confusing or even confronting," Alex explained. "For example, some people thought a diagram of the uterus placed inside the body resembled other shapes entirely. It showed us how important it is to test assumptions and listen to communities."

The illustrations were drawn by Noelle Chan, a Melbourne-based illustrator and designer, who brought the creative vision of this project to life. They were also reviewed by Dr Pav Nanayakkara, a gynaecologist at the Jean Hailes Clinics, to ensure clinical accuracy.

The project is also built to evolve. The illustrations are editable, so words can be changed – such as switching 'uterus' to 'womb' – depending on community preferences. As we continue to expand our work with different cultural groups, further consultation and updates are planned.

The new illustrations are now live across our website and resources, helping to build women’s confidence and knowledge around their health and health care.