New training opportunity
Women's Health Tasmania has partnered with Queensland's innovative Children By Choice to develop a unique training opportunity for Tasmanian workers.
The training presents evidence-based strategies for people who provide counselling, support or health care to people who are pregnant.
This training draws on the expertise of Children by Choice and Women’s Health Tasmania and is informed by the lived experience of people who have had pregnancies and abortions in Tasmania.
This training supports workers and organisations to deliver best practice health care and support to people who are seeking or considering an abortion.
The training will assist the health and community sector work collaboratively for positive reproductive health outcomes.
You will leave this training equipped with knowledge about:
- All pregnancy options in Tasmania – including adoption, parenting and abortion
- Health pathways for abortion in Tasmania
- How to have supportive, appropriate conversations with people considering abortion
- How to notice and respond to reproductive coercion
Who is the training for?
The training is for anyone working with women or people who can get pregnant.
- Health care professionals and allied health workers
- Counsellors, family support workers, youth workers and family violence workers
- Managers and supervisors in the young people, family support and family violence sectors
Learning outcomes
Participants will walk away with:
- Skills in having safe, non-directive conversations with people seeking or considering an abortion, including awareness of appropriate language and addressing cultural diversity
- The ability to identify and respond to reproductive coercion
- Knowledge about how to respond to and refer clients and patients to appropriate social and emotional support services
- A holistic understanding of abortion access in Tasmania and how to refer clients and patients
- Connection to a network of providers of pregnancy options support in Tasmania
- An awareness of personal, professional and organisational values and how these relate to reproductive autonomy
When?
Workshops are being organised now for 2024.
Women’s Health Tasmania
Women’s Health Tasmania (WHT) has a 30-year history of providing successful health promotion initiatives to priority population groups in Tasmania. WHT is a state-wide service that provides healthy activity programs, health information and counselling. WHT engages in policy and advocacy work that aims to amplify the voices of all Tasmanian women and achieve positive, sustainable change within the health sector.
WHT is a key provider of free, non-directive, all-options pregnancy options counselling. WHT has been a key advocate in Tasmania working across the health sector to coordinate access to safe, no-cost access to abortion for all women and people who need it.
Children by Choice
Children by Choice provides counselling, information, and education services on all pregnancy options, including abortion, adoption, and parenting across Queensland. Children by Choice offers sexuality and relationships education to schools and youth organisations, and provide professional development to the health, education and community sectors on pregnancy options counselling, reproductive coercion and post abortion counselling.
Children by Choice are advocates for improvements to law and policy that increase women’s access to compassionate reproductive health services and non-directive, evidence-based information. Children by Choice are recognised nationally and internationally as a key advocacy group for the needs and rights of women in relation to reproductive health.
About the Trainers
Heidi Morton (she/her) is the social worker at Women’s Health Tasmania. She is experienced in counselling, including non-directive pregnancy options counselling, and in delivering Reproductive Options training.
Lucinda Shannon (she/her) is Deputy CEO of Women’s Health Tasmania. She is experienced in delivering Reproductive Options and LGBTIQ+ inclusivity training and she is a qualified social worker.
