Whatever happened to the 'F' word? Challenges for women specific services

Feminist services in Australia were established in the 1970's in response to compelling evidence that women's wellbeing was not well served by existing health and social service systems. Since that time the women’s services sector has experienced ebbs and flows in government and community support, a growing commitment to professionalism and varied success in influencing social policy. Over time, however the use of the word ‘feminist” to describe service philosophy and service provision has diminished. \ud In the last decade an increasing neo-liberal focus on service provision has presented challenges for services addressing women's issues such as sexual assault and family violence. Many services continue to apply a gendered analysis to their work contrary to an increasing trend in funding agreements to de-gender policy and practice.\ud This paper will explore policy and practice examples from women's services in Queensland and Victoria with a view to understanding how services are reframing and resisting these developments. Our analysis will assess whether it is timely to revive the “F" word\u