Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm very pleased to rise to speak about the latest Liberal-led government's endometriosis initiative. We're investing $400,000 to educate doctors and nurses as part of funding set aside in this year's budget to improve education among primary health professionals. This is a really critical part of what we will do with the National Action Plan for Endometriosis. We will develop Australia's first ever clinical practice guideline for the disease. This is a step towards addressing those waiting times of between seven to 12 years for patients. As we've heard through the endometriosis debate, sometimes they can wait up to 20 years for that diagnosis.

This is a really huge issue for the women affected by endometriosis. The government is also investing in education by developing the inaugural in-depth tertiary unit on the disease for our nurses. This will ensure nurses, prior to graduating, learn firsthand about endometriosis. Given that they're on the frontline, this unit will go a long way towards earlier diagnosis, better treatment and long-term management for women with the disease. This measure addresses another one of the first ever National Action Plan for Endometriosis's recommendations. Over 700,000 Australian women live with this disease, and I'm proud to be part of a government taking these first steps. (Time expired)