Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) affirms the importance of Women's Health Week, held annually in the first week in September, as a national campaign led by Jean Hailes for Women's Health, promoting health awareness, education, and empowerment for women, girls, and gender-diverse people across Australia;

(2) celebrates the 2025 theme, 'Say yes to you', which encourages women to prioritise their health, speak up, and access the care they need, values that align with the Government's commitment to equity, dignity, and universal healthcare;

(3) acknowledges the systemic challenges women face in accessing timely, affordable, and appropriate healthcare, including underdiagnosed conditions such as endometriosis, pelvic pain, cardiovascular disease, and menopause-related symptoms;

(4) commends the Government for its historic investment of $793 million to strengthen Medicare and improve women's health outcomes, including:

(a) new Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listings for oral contraceptives and menopause hormone therapies;

(b) expanded bulk billing and Medicare rebates for long-acting reversible contraceptives and menopause health assessments;

(c) the establishment of 11 new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, increasing the national total to 33 clinics; and

(d) national trials enabling pharmacists to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections, improving access for over 250,000 concession cardholders; and

(5) reaffirms this House's ongoing commitment to a fairer, stronger healthcare system that meets the needs of all Australians, especially women, through evidence-based policy, investment, and compassion.

This week is Women's Health Week, which is held annually in the first week of September. It's a national campaign led by Jean Hailes for Women's Health, a national non-profit organisation dedicated to improving women's health across Australia and through every stage of life. Women's Health Week promotes health awareness, education and empowerment for women, girls and gender-diverse people across Australia because, for too long, women's health has too often been overlooked, ignored and pushed to the side. This has been a result of historical neglect in research and care, leading to gender bias, medical misogyny and systemic inequities.

In 2023, the National Women's Health Advisory Council conducted the #EndGenderBias survey to better understand the unique barriers women face in Australia's healthcare system. From across the country, thousands of responses were received. Two-thirds of women reported that they experienced healthcare related gender bias and discrimination. These have a far-reaching impact on women's lives. Women reported feelings of abandonment, shame, blame and self-doubt; significant financial burden; lost educational and career opportunities; and delayed diagnosis and treatment, which led to disease progression, fewer treatments and worse health outcomes.

The 2025 theme of Women's Health Week is Say Yes to You, which encourages women to prioritise their health, speak up and access the care that they need. These values align strongly with our government's commitment to equity, dignity and universal health care. Improving the health and wellbeing of all women, girls and gender-diverse people is a key priority for the Australian government. We know that women's interactions with the healthcare system are different to that of men's. We know women spend more on out-of-pocket healthcare costs than men, and younger women spend more than men their age, partly due to maternity care and the higher prevalence of chronic illness. We know that women experience delayed diagnosis across a wide range of conditions and diseases.

This government, the continuation of Australia's first majority women government, understands and acknowledges there are systemic challenges women face in accessing timely, affordable and appropriate health care. That's why I'm so proud to acknowledge the groundbreaking women's healthcare package included in the 2025-26 budget. The Australian government is investing $792.9 million through the 2025-26 budget to increase the capacity of the primary care workforce to support women's health needs, increase access to services and make both services and medicines more affordable. This funding includes $159.9 million to make it easier for women in Australia to access affordable, long-acting, reversible contraception, one of the most effective and reliable methods of contraception.

We're also investing $64.5 million to improve access to more effective and high-quality models of care for endometriosis and pelvic pain, and perimenopause and menopause management and support. This includes 11 new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia, bringing the total to 33 clinics and expanding their scope. We're developing national clinical guidelines for perimenopause and menopause to support a national consistent approach for care and increasing awareness and access to education and training on perimenopause and menopause for health professionals.

We're investing $109.1 million to support women's health trials through pharmacists for the effective treatment of uncomplicated UTIs and access to contraceptives. These trials will make it easier for women to get the care they need from a pharmacist. We're investing $443.4 million for the listing of more medicines on the PBS, including oral contraceptive pills as well as menopausal hormone therapies. In addition, the oral contraceptive pills Slinda and Ryeqo for endometriosis were listed on the PBS from May this year.

This is what you can achieve when you have equal representation in our parliament—a government that deeply understands women's health and the challenges we face, because more than half of the representatives sitting on this side of the House are women. As of May 2025, women make up 56 per cent of the Australian Labor Party caucus in federal parliament, and this Albanese Labor government's cabinet is now the first-ever federal cabinet to be gender equal, with women comprising 11 of the 22 ministers. As Senator Katy Gallagher, Minister for Women, explained earlier this year:

And when you have that, the conversations change. And we can see it not only in women's health, but we've been doing it in terms of women's wages, in terms of access to PPL, super on PPL, in women's safety, in women's sport, in housing for women.

This government has been working incredibly hard for the women of Australia. For generations women have fought to have their health recognised, respected and prioritised. Today, with this Labor government that truly reflects the voices of women, that change is happening. We will continue to stand with women every step of the way, ensuring their health and wellbeing are no longer left behind.

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