Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the government's Women's Health Package. I acknowledge that, 12 months into this package, it is a positive step that more than 660,000 women have accessed more than two million scripts for contraceptives, hormone therapies and endometriosis treatments on the PBS. But, while those numbers look good on paper here in Canberra, they mask a glaring divide. When it comes to comprehensive care, regional Australia has been entirely left off the map.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the treatment of endometriosis. Last year the government announced 11 new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. Do you know how many of these clinics were in South Australia? Zero. There are currently only two clinics in South Australia, one in all of regional South Australia, which is in Kadina. I've stated previously that the Primary Health Network allocation for country SA has a population of about 497,000 people. That's 259,000 women. Yet the single clinic in Kadina is expected to service them all, from Ceduna to Port Lincoln and all the way to Roxby Downs and Coober Pedy. Are people going to drive for seven hours for an appointment? No, I don't think they are, especially when diesel costs $3.20 a litre in Coober Pedy right now. That's more than $350 for a tank of fuel.

To exclude South Australia from these new clinics is yet another example of how regional South Australia has been forgotten. Driving for hours to access essential services is unacceptable for an electorate that covers 92.3 per cent of our state. The sheer logistics are punishing. There is no longer a ferry service in Wallaroo, and there are no regional airports in Kadina. When regional women face severe abdominal pain and struggle with infertility and chronic nausea, we are essentially telling them to endure a road trip to get help, to rely on the Patient Assisted Transport Scheme to send them to Adelaide instead of treating them locally. Monica Forlano, the chair of Endometriosis Australia, rightfully points out:

With endometriosis affecting at least one in seven Australian women and an average diagnosis delay of seven years, expanding access to specialist clinics in regions and outer suburbs is absolutely vital.

Local medical professionals are feeling the strain. Dr Anna Kearney from Kadina Medical Associates notes:

No new clinics being announced in South Australia was a disappointing, but not unexpected result.

Anna highlights:

Our clinic prides itself on multidisciplinary care, however, workforce issues are still often unavoidable with rural retention a national issue.

Our GPs are perfectly capable of dealing with the holistic management of period pain, yet the government provides them with little to no support to do so. We must listen to patients who have endometriosis, like Endometriosis Australia SA ambassador Deanna Flynn Wallis. She shared her reality, stating:

The symptoms, journey, medical gaslighting, and life implications are beyond exhausting for so many.

And:

South Australia truly needs more clinics, and it is my sincere hope that we get them, especially for our regional warriors.

We in the regions just put up with being second-class citizens, but enough is enough.

South Australians were excited to have a health minister from their home state, yet South Australia continues to be at the bottom of Mark Butler's list, with regional South Australia even lower. The system of allocating our clinic-per-primary-health-network is fundamentally flawed when our network covers a vast portion of the continent. This lack of foresight extends across regional women's health care, including maternal support. Again, I'm calling on the government to commit to the Australian Breastfeeding Association's four-year $14.8 million funding proposal. The ABA has six local groups right here in Grey, and in the last financial year alone, that 24/7 helpline fielded more than 55,000 calls. Since 2008 they have supported 1.2 million families, yet their funding cycle has been slashed to just 12 months, making long-term planning impossible. This $14.8 million investment is vital to upgrade their system and maintain their 24/7 services. Regional women deserve certainty. They deserve care where they live. It is time the government stop abandoning regional South Australia.

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