Our Story
Melbourne’s medical women broke through gender barriers to study and practice medicine and open the Queen Victoria Hospital for women and children in 1899. The protected male only medical profession did not welcome the establishment of the world’s third hospital for women run exclusively by women doctors - Pro Feminis A Feminis - but the community did. The energy and inclusiveness of those medical women still inspires the day to day operation of the QVWC today.
Our heritage listed Lonsdale Street building has an extensive and rich history: built by renowned Melbourne architect JJ Clark, it was the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1913 to 1946 and then it became the second home of the Queen Victoria Hospital until 1987 when the hospital was decommissioned and relocated to the Monash Medical Centre.
The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Trust Act (1994) was passed by the Victorian Parliament creating the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (QVWC), preserving the last remaining tower on the site. In creating the Centre, the State Government dedicated the land and the building to services and facilities for women.
Today, our purpose is to hold and create space for Victorian women* and gender diverse people to thrive.
Our vision is that all women and gender diverse people have a place where they feel welcomed, valued, and celebrated and have the power to determine their present and future.
Image: Trustee Members (not all pictured) and the Feminist Historian at the first public presentation of the story at Open House on 27 July 2024
Feminist History of the Queen Victoria Hospital
This timeline has been developed to recognise the enduring feminist values of the Queen Victoria Hospital that inspire the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre today.
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1896 CONNECTIONS
The Queen Victoria Hospital for women an children began as an outpatient clinic at St David’s Hall at the Welsh Church on La Trobe Street in Melbourne in 1896. It was called the Victoria Hospital for women and children and was staffed by honorary women doctors - members of the Victoria Medical Women’s Society, led by Dr Constance Stone.
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1899 The Queen Victoria Hospital for women and children opens
It is the world’s third Pro Feminis A Feminis (for women by women) hospital - an international phenomenon that profoundly reformed healthcare and the medical profession.
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Pro Feminis A Feminis hospitals
Dr Constance Stone studied medicine in America, Canada and UK because she was barred from doing so in Australia. She experienced how well the Pro Feminis A Feminis hospitals in New York and London served the needs of women and she worked with her colleagues in Melbourne to replicate the model.
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THE QUEEN'S SHILING FUND
Launched in 1897 by Melbourne’s suffragettes, it coincided with Queen Victoria Jubilee. 700 communities across Victoria contributed to The Queen’s Shilling Fund to build the first Queen Victoria Hospital.
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LOCATIONS
The Pro Feminis A Feminis Queen Victoria Hospital for women and children was run on two Melbourne sites for a total of 64 years: the first on Mint Place from 1899 to 1946; the second at 210 Lonsdale street from 1946 to 1963, on the site of the previous Melbourne Hospital.
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1963
In 1963 the hospital’s mission changed and it became a family teaching hospital that treated male patients, employed male doctors and staff and included male board members.
