Labor says the government’s decision will have a direct impact on dozens of women’s health and anti-violence organisations across the country

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Australian Women’s Health Network will continue its advocacy work despite losing Commonwealth funding on 31 December, the chief executive of the organisation, Kelly Banister, says.

Funding for the organisation was due to run out on 30 June last year, but the federal government gave it a six-month reprieve while it conducted a review into how its programs were funded.

In November, AWHN, which analyses health and social welfare policies from a women’s point of view, was told by the federal Department of Health that its application for future funding had been denied and that existing federal cash would run out on 31 December.

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“We were quite surprised when we were told that we didn’t get the funding,” Banister told Guardian Australia.

She said the organisation had enough cash in contingency reserves to keep running, albeit at a reduced capacity.

“We do have some reserve funds. We have enough to keep us going for 12 months [but] we will certainly have to scale back on projects,” Banister said.

Commonwealth funding of about $600,000 over three years was awarded to the organisation in 2012. AWHN also raised cash through philanthropic donations, membership fees and national women’s health conferences held every three or four years, but government funding made up the bulk of its income.

A spokesman for the federal health minister, Sussan Ley, defended the decision not to extend funding, saying the Commonwealth assistance was intended to help peak health organisations pay for administrative staff.

“To be clear, it does not provide funding for frontline service delivery or specific projects or programs,” the spokesman told Guardian Australia. “The funding round was highly competitive with over 100 peak bodies applying for 22 funding grants and applications were assessed by the Department of Health on quality and merit in a transparent way.”

He pointed out that another peak women’s health group, the Jean Hailes Foundation, received $7.1m, and that the government funded several other reproductive and maternal health programs.

A spokeswoman for the federal Department of Health told Guardian Australia AWHN’s funding submission “was judged against the many other submissions not to be as effective in addressing the national health priorities set down in the health peak and advisory body program”.

Banister has sought a meeting with Ley and has written to the Department of Health over the decision to stop the funding.

“I would certainly welcome the opportunity to work with the federal government and other stakeholders,” she said.

In June, Ley helped launch AWHN’s free online information-sharing hub.

The Labor health spokeswoman, Catherine King, warned that defunding the AWHN “will have a direct impact on dozens of women’s health and anti-violence organisations across the country”.

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AWHN was just the tip of the iceberg, she said.

“Labor has been told only around one-fifth of the organisations that applied for funding in the most recent round were successful. Even some of those that were funded will see their grants reduced,” she said.

The federal government’s decision to cut bulk-billing incentives for pathology and diagnostic services has been criticised for targeting women, after it was revealed the cut would apply to procedures such as pap smears and breast exams.

Ley has rejected suggestions the government was reducing the Medicare rebate for visits to doctors, but pathology companies have warned that the costs incurred from scrapping the incentive could be passed on to patients.

By Thursday evening, almost 155,000 people had signed an online petition asking the government to reverse its decision, which was announced in December’s budget update. The petition was written by a senior member of the New South Wales National Tertiary Education Union.

Ending the bulk-billing incentive from 1 July is expected to net the federal government $650m over four years.