Five years ago, the Cabrini Women’s Mental Health Service started out as nothing more than an idea.

“An ambitious idea,” Chief of Mental Health and Cabrini Outreach, Sharon Sherwood said. “Some might even have called it a slightly crazy idea – the idea that women deserved a dedicated mental health service designed around their needs, their stories, their strengths, and their recovery.”

That idea grew into something incredible. Since opening its doors in 2021, the service has grown substantially, according to Cabrini Clinical Psychologist, Rivkah
Nathanson.

“Over the past five years, the number of clients we have on the ward continues to grow,” Rivkah said. The 30-bed unit has supported an incredible 1371 women via inpatient admissions over the years.
Cabrini Women’s Mental Health also assisted 36 women last year via generous donors to our Access Fund which ensures women can access specialist care regardless of their financial situation.

But behind every admission and every dollar donated is a woman whose life has been changed. “The impact for clients is really meaningful,” Rivkah said.

The impact the Service has made has been recognised by the healthcare industry, too. The Service was named a finalist in a 2025 industry excellence awards program for its exceptional achievements. “Australia’s First Women’s Mental Health Hospital” was published in the journal Australasian Psychiatry celebrating the efficacy of the model of care and its contribution to the growing evidence base for specialist, gender-sensitive mental health care.

“The breadth and scope of the service that we offer has significantly improved over time,” Rivkah said. “We’re constantly improving based on feedback that we get from clients, and at the moment it’s really a nice holistic, trauma-informed program that incorporates various different therapeutic approaches.”

“The most important thing is that women who are struggling have a place to come and get the help that they need and get back on track to living the life that they want to live, and to feel supported in that.”

Supporting women is the goal Sharon had in mind when the idea was conceived years ago, although she’s quick to point out that the Service’s growth was never the work of one person alone.

Reflecting on this five-year milestone, she says the credit belongs to everyone who has helped to build it. “A service is built by lots of hands and hearts,” Sharon said. “It’s built by nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, exercise physiologists, art therapists, music therapists, pastoral care, administrators, hospitality staff, cleaners, volunteers, lived-experience voices, families and, most importantly, the women we care for.”