Each year our Annual Report gives a snapshot of our activities throughout Victoria and the work we have done with the community to achieve positive social change.

Download the 2008/09 Annual Report.

Download the 2007/08 Annual Report.

For a hardcopy of the 2008/09 Annual Report, or any previous years, please call YWCA Victoria on 8341 8700 or email ywca@ywca.net.

The 2008/09 Financial Report is available for download here.

The 2007/08 Financial Report is available for download here.

Whilst women in the 21st century have the benefit of living in a world that has been positively impacted by several waves of feminism, the issue of equality of opportunity for women has persisted across generations and across the world.

In Nairobi, Kenya in July 2007, the World YWCA re-ratified its four policy priority areas of women’s health and HIV, the human rights of women and girls, peace and sustainable development and economic empowerment. The basis of these priorities is the fundamental inequality of opportunity and disadvantage facing women and girls in the 122 member countries of the World YWCA.

YWCA Victoria is affiliated to the world YWCA body through YWCA Australia, with the global priorities echoed in YWCA Australia’s focus on housing for women, violence against women, economic security for women and women’s health.

As articulated in our mission and vision, YWCA Victoria works to provide opportunities to disadvantaged women; to deliver targeted programs to end inequality in individual lives and in the community; and to advocate on issues related to women’s inequality. Recent research demonstrates the extent to which inequality affects Australian women’s lives:

• ‘Intimate partner violence is responsible for more ill-health and premature death in Victorian women between the ages of 15-44 than any other well-known risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity and smoking’
• Women’s full time earnings are 81 per cent of men’s, when part time work is included, women’s earnings make up only 64 per cent of men’s.
• In the Legislative Assembly women represent only 31 per cent of members, while in the Legislative Council women represent 30 per cent of councillors.

As an independent, contemporary organisation, YWCA Victoria is supported by the YWCA owned and operated Jasper Hotel, government funding and a range of community partners to provide exceptional services and advance opportunity to Victorian women.

The programs, operating out of five sites across Victoria, are designed to have a major impact on women’s lives, boost self esteem and social connection, and to alleviate the effects of homelessness, poverty, discrimination and other barriers to full participation in the community.

Young women’s leadership and provision of opportunities for young women is a hallmark of the work of YWCA Victoria. Whilst understanding that programs for young women provide the opportunity for early intervention, our contemporary service portfolio acknowledges that inequality and disadvantage isn’t restricted to women of a certain age, cultural identity or geographic location. 

With a diverse membership base and strengthened by volunteers, YWCA Victoria provides dynamic opportunities to create community connections and participate in local, national and global activities. How we work is important to the organisation’s success and community connection this being underpinned by the values: respect; innovation; integrity; sustainability; and women’s leadership and equality.

Please contact ywca@ywca.net for copies of the YWCA Victoria 2007-2011 or 2004-2006 Strategic Plans.