Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. This is a disease that affects one in seven Australian women, yet for too long the health system didn't take it seriously or treat it properly. As part of the biggest ever investment in women's health, our government is changing that. At the last election we promised to open 11 new endo and pelvic pain clinics, to create a network of 33 clinics right around Australia. Eight of those clinics are already open, and the remaining three will be open next month.

I visited the Werribee endo and pelvic pain clinic in February with the member for Lalor, and there I met with Alana. She was 22 years old and she told me that for years her pain was dismissed. She was told, 'Just take a Panadol'—not anymore. She told me of the difference it had made to her life. Now Australian women are able to visit one of these clinics and get the treatment they need. What's more, we've listed new medicines for endo on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, saving thousands of dollars a year. New endo clinics, cheaper medicines, stronger Medicare—that is what you get from a government that takes women's health seriously, and that is what our Labor government is delivering.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to associate the coalition with the Prime Minister's comments on endometriosis month. There are so many women in our country who suffer great pain in silence, and I would like to highlight to those opposite and to the nation the great work that Minister Greg Hunt did in this space while he was the minister for health and the ongoing advocacy that the coalition has delivered for women suffering with endometriosis.