Community consultations with Arabic, Punjabi and Vietnamese-speaking women on Periods & Health Checks

• Download Community consultations long report (PDF 1MB)
• Download Community consultations short report (PDF 600KB)

The findings revealed strong preferences for visual and bilingual resources, videos featuring lived experience, and face-to-face health discussions in trusted community spaces. Participants identified cultural stigma around menstruation, hesitancy around health checks, and significant gaps in knowledge on topics like hormonal health, menopause, and mental wellbeing.

The report highlights key themes and recommendations which could assist in strengthening the promotion of women's health initiatives in Arabic, Punjabi, and Vietnamese-speaking communities and create a supportive, more inclusive and culturally responsive approach.

This project highlighted the value of working closely with Community Hubs to connect with Arabic, Punjabi, and Vietnamese-speaking women. Creating a culturally safe space helped women feel comfortable sharing their health needs and experiences. While feedback was overwhelmingly positive, the suggestions offered valuable insights to improve future work and engagement. The lessons learned provide a strong foundation for more inclusive and meaningful women’s health initiatives.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the women and hub leaders from the following Community Hubs for their involvement in this community project, and sharing their experiences: Prarievale Public School; Banksia Road Public School; Bankstown Public School; Chester Hill Public School; Inala State School; Davis Creek Primary School; Doherty’s P-9 College; Point Cook P-9 College; and Truganina South Primary School.

This project was supported by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing as part of the funding program for the national digital gateway for women’s health information.