Women's health care is everybody's health care. It is the health of our mothers, daughters, sisters, partners, our friends and indeed our colleagues. Yet, for generations, too many aspects of women's health have been spoken about quietly behind closed doors or not spoken about at all. As a doctor, I know how important it is for every patient to feel heard, believed and supported when they seek medical care.

Since becoming the member for Robertson, I have held a number of women's health forums on the Central Coast. These forums have given me the opportunity to hear directly from women about their experiences. Women have spoken about difficulties accessing appropriate care. They have spoken about experiencing pain or debilitating symptoms and feeling that they were not being heard. They have told me about the importance of finding a doctor who listens. And they've spoken about how important it is to have partners and family members who understand what they are experiencing and know how to support them. These conversations have stayed with me, because, for too long, conditions affecting women have been surrounded by silence. Endometriosis, pelvic pain, menstruation, fertility, contraception, perimenopause and menopause should not be taboo subjects. We need to raise the blinds on the taboos surrounding women's health care. We need to talk openly and honestly because no-one should be embarrassed to talk about their health. There should be no stigma attached to asking for help.

No woman should ever feel that chronic pain or debilitating symptoms are simply something that they have to put up with. That is why I'm so proud of what our government is delivering. Our government has made a landmark investment in women's health that is focused on delivering more health care for Australian women and girls, and we are seeing the results. By September 2026, more than one million Australian women have accessed cheaper medicines for contraception, endometriosis and menopause, with more than four million cheaper prescriptions filled. We've delivered new contraceptive pills on the PBS for the first time in more than 30 years. We have also made long-acting reversible contraception, including IUDs and contraceptive implants, more affordable through Medicare.

We are changing the way Australia responds to menopause and perimenopause. For generations, women were too often simply expected to get on with it. That is changing. New hormone therapies have been listed on the PBS—the first new listings in more than 20 years—and Medicare funded menopause health assessments have now been introduced, with more than 137,000 women receiving one of these assessments. We've also expanded the network of endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across Australia, including one on the Central Coast, and all of them are supporting women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. We've also invested in additional services for women with complex gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome and chronic pelvic pain.

These are significant reforms, but improving women's health cannot just be about funding, programs or statistics. It must also be about changing culture. It is about creating a community where a young woman can talk openly about debilitating period pain and know that she will be taken seriously; where a woman experiencing menopause feels comfortable talking to her doctor, her family and her workplace about what she is experiencing; and where a woman living with persistent pain knows that asking for help is not complaining. That means this conversation can not only involve women. Men need to be a part of this too. As husbands, partners, fathers, sons, brothers, colleagues and friends we all have a responsibility to listen, to understand and to support the women in our lives, because women's health does not exist in isolation, and when someone is struggling with their health it can affect their family, relationships, employment and participation within the community. That is one of the strongest messages that I have taken from the women on the Central Coast who have shared their experiences with me.

There is more work to do. We must continue improving access to care and we must continue strengthening Medicare and making medications more affordable. But we must also continue to break down the silence and stigma that has surrounded women's health for far too long. Above all, we must continue to listen when women tell us they're in pain, they cannot access health care or they don't feel heard. Every woman deserves to be heard, every woman deserves to be supported and every woman deserves access to high-quality and affordable care. Women's health care is everyone's care, and that is something worth speaking loudly about.