Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion regarding women's health and on this government's actions to support women's health across the country. I want to thank the member for Moreton for bringing the debate forward. I want to thank the member for Spence and the member for Chisholm for their contributions. I want to thank the member for Kooyong for raising an issue today, which was canvassed by Four Corners, in relation to alleged victims of a surgeon in Melbourne, which has distressed people around the country. It goes to the heart of why this government is taking the action it is taking in women's health. I want to pay tribute to Assistant Ministers Kearney, White and McBride and Minister Butler for the work that they've done since we formed government.

Medical misogyny has been alive and well in this country and internationally. How do we know that? We know that because women make up 51 per cent of the population, yet they have been vacant in the health data over the last century. So this is a really important contribution today in terms of bringing this government's actions to the attention of the House, but also identifying what led to it taking these actions. I want to say upfront that the reason this has happened is that the female people around the country are now reflected in a government that has a majority of women at the table. That is why this has happened.

It has happened because women have raised the issue that they have not been part of a dataset in medical history and that they can still be faced with medical misogyny at a GP visit, and that has driven a lot of this work. Obviously, it is work that takes time. It takes time once you form government to get in, to get the priorities set, to get the departments working on what we need to do. That's why I rise today to say that this government's nearly $800 million landmark women's health package is righting a balance. It is not putting women before men. It is making sure that that balance is right and that women's health is being addressed in this country.

We've done that through 3.2 million cheaper PBS prescriptions, where 700,000 women have accessed cheaper prescriptions. We've done it as a government that listed contraceptive pills on the PBS for the first time in more than 30 years. We've introduced the first new menopausal hormone therapies listed in over 20 years. Over 7,000 women with endometriosis have accessed 30,000 scripts, saving them $5.7 million on treatments, and women undergoing IVF now have earlier and more affordable access to the care they need.

We know that delivering for women's health is not a 'one size fits all' policy, and that's why we're strengthening Medicare so it works better for women and delivers the specialist care they've waited too long for. Medicare funded menopause health assessments have already been accessed by more than 71,000 women, and new Medicare items and higher rebates mean cheaper, more accessible gynaecological care, including longer consultations for more complex issues. Around 430,000 additional services have been funded for women with endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, chronic pelvic pain and other gynaecological conditions. That's backed by $49 million in national investment directly improving women's lives. IUDs and contraceptive implants are now easier and cheaper to access. With larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing, women are saving more.

We've taken it a step further, building a national support system providing tailored care that didn't previously exist in our endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. Last week, I proudly stood beside the Prime Minister at the Werribee endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic that has opened in the last three weeks. It is one of the 33 around the country. I was pleased to be there to see this initiative changing lives, to hear from Avoca about the clinics that they have stood up in this space and to hear about the training that the specialist nurses, the physiotherapists, the nutritionists and the GPs are undertaking to ensure that women are getting the absolute best health care. I could not be prouder to be part of a government making sure that women are seen and heard. (Time expired)

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