Some of the greatest barriers to improving women's health in Australia are the silence, shame and embarrassment that still surround so many women's health conditions. Every day, women delay seeking medical care because they feel uncomfortable talking about intimate health issues. Conditions such as prolapse, incontinence, pelvic pain, menopause and heavy menstrual bleeding remain surrounded by stigma and untreated. Many women suffer in silence. They put up with debilitating pain and discomfort. They delay seeking help, sometimes for years, and often, when they finally do seek help, their concerns are dismissed or minimised.

That's why the recent public mocking of Senator Jacqui Lambie's experience of pelvic organ prolapse in a One Nation cartoon is particularly damaging and, I would say, deeply shameful. At a time when we are trying to encourage women to speak openly about their health, overcome embarrassment and seek treatment, we have a female parliamentarian's deeply personal medical experience turned into a punchline. What message does that send to women already too embarrassed to discuss their symptoms with their GP or their partners? As a doctor, I know just how difficult it can be for women to raise these issues, and I know how important it is that they feel safe, respected and confident that their concerns will be taken seriously. Personal health journeys like Senator Lambie's should not be ridiculed. They should prompt us as parliamentarians to demand better.

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common, often debilitating and underrecognised women's health condition. It can profoundly affect a woman's mobility, bladder and bowel function, intimate relationships, confidence and quality of life. Yet many women delay seeking treatment because of embarrassment or because they mistakenly believe it is simply an inevitable consequence of childbirth or ageing. When they do seek help, they can face lengthy delays, limited specialist access and significant out-of-pocket costs.

Senator Lambie's experience highlights a much broader issue. The treatment of women's health in Australia is still not where it needs to be. Evidence of gender bias in our healthcare system is deeply embedded and concerning. More than half of Australian women report having their pain ignored or dismissed by health professionals while around two-thirds report experiences of medical misogyny. Evidence to women's health inquiries reveals that women are too often not believed when reporting pain, that they are forced to see multiple practitioners before receiving a diagnosis and that they are left navigating fragmented care and costly specialist appointments. We heard similar stories during the 2024 Senate inquiry into menopause and perimenopause. Women described having their symptoms dismissed as stress or ageing, inadequately investigated or simply misunderstood. The consequences extend far beyond physical discomfort. Women lose confidence in themselves and in the healthcare system. Their work, relationships, mental health and quality of life can all suffer. Some stop seeking help altogether.

I acknowledge the government's investments in women's health, including the expansion of the endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, dedicated Medicare items for menopause and increased support for clinician education and research. These are really welcome and necessary reforms, but there is still much more to do. We need to confront gender bias and medical misogyny in our healthcare system. We need faster diagnostic pathways, better training for GPs and specialists, improved Medicare support for multidisciplinary care and greater investment in women's health research. We need better collection of women's health data so that the gaps in care can no longer be overlooked. Alongside these reforms, we must change the culture of silence and shame that continues to surround women's bodies and women's health. That starts with the example that we set here in parliament. Senator Lambie chose to share her story to draw attention to the barriers women veterans face in accessing treatment. She did not deserve to be ridiculed then told by a fellow political leader and colleague to get a sense of humour and get over it. What Jacqui Lambie did took courage, and it deserves immense respect.