Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the opening of an additional 11 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia, with all 33 clinics now open, supporting women and girls; and

(2) notes these clinics:

(a) are delivering a key part of the Government's landmark Women's Health Package, which is investing almost $800 million to deliver improved health care and access for women and girls;

(b) provide expert, multidisciplinary care for women and girls living with endometriosis and pelvic pain as well as perimenopause and menopause care; and

(c) have already provided care for over 10,000 Australian women and girls, with more than 28,000 services to those with endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain conditions.

I'm moving this motion today because, for too long, women experiencing chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis have been dismissed, overlooked or told that what they are experiencing is somewhat normal. In my community one local woman, Alana, knows exactly what that feels like.

For years, Alana experienced debilitating pelvic pain—pain that affected her quality of life, pain that disrupted her daily routine, pain that should have been taken seriously. Instead of answers, support and a pathway to diagnosis, Alana was told something many women hear far too often: just take a Panadol. Imagine hearing that while living with chronic pain. Imagine being told to push through it, to wait, to accept it. Alana's story is deeply personal, but it is not unique. Imagine being told, when you just missed a week of work because of that pain, that this would happen regularly and often, that your capacity to earn for your family would be diminished and that your pain would be ignored. I want to thank Alana for sharing her story with me and the Prime Minister when he visited the Werribee Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinic in February.

Endometriosis affects at least one in seven Australian women. It can cause chronic pain and fertility challenges and have profound impacts on education, employment, relationships and everyday life. Women wait, on average, around seven years for a diagnosis. That's seven years of uncertainty, seven years of pain, seven years of feeling unheard. Chronic pelvic pain has devastating impacts not only on individuals and families but on our economy too, costing Australia an estimated $6 billion every year. For too long, women were denied the support they deserve, and that is why Labor's investment in women's health matters and why Labor delivering for women's health absolutely matters in communities across the country.

Labor's women's health package, worth nearly $800 million, is delivering more choice, lower costs and better health care for women and girls across Australia. Importantly, we're building something that did not previously exist: an Australia-wide support system for women experiencing endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. We've delivered an additional 11 clinics, taking the national network to 33 across Australia, improving access in both metropolitan and regional communities. Every primary health network region now has access to these services. Importantly for women in Melbourne's west, one of those clinics is in Werribee. That matters. It matters because, for women like Alana, access matters, being listened to matters, having healthcare professionals who understand pelvic pain matters, and having multidisciplinary care and a pathway to diagnosis matters.

These clinics were established to improve access to timely care for people experiencing endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain, because women deserve better than being told to simply put up with pain, and we are already seeing the results. The initial network of clinics had already supported more than 10,000 women and girls and delivered more than 28,000 services for endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain conditions, but this work goes beyond clinics. We're supporting updated evidence-based clinical guidelines. We're developing an endometriosis management plan to better support patients and healthcare providers. We continue to fund EndoZone, a digital platform providing information, resources, symptom tracking and access to the latest research, and we are making health care more affordable. Since introducing the Labor women's healthcare package, more than 800,000 women have accessed over three million cheaper PBS prescriptions covering contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis treatments. More than 8,000 women with endometriosis have already benefited from cheaper treatment options that previously placed major financial pressure on women and families. This matters in my electorate.

We're also making Medicare work better for women, with improved specialist access, longer consultations for complex issues and greater support for gynaecological care. This is a government that cares about women's health, that is delivering for women's health.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Lalor for bringing this private member's motion to the Federation Chamber. Endometriosis and pelvic pain are something that many, many, many women suffer with and often in silence—certainly in my era, it was in silence. Under the coalition government, under the fabulous work of Nicolle Flint and Nola Marino from Western Australia, these clinics were put forward and agreed to under the former coalition government. It was great news at that point in time, and I commend the Albanese government for continuing with that work.

On the surface it sounds really fabulous to have an endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic near where you live. But where I live in Mildura, women have to travel 4½ hours by car, and we know what all that bumping and jolting actually does when you are in that state. There is no specialist GP clinic with multidisciplinary care, something I will continue to fight hard for in every regional town to manage this kind of condition. Women deserve better and regional women deserve better, and I will continue to call out the Labor government for not funding the health care in the regions that it should.

When these clinics are set up and have specialists providing care, of course it's important that the doctors and specialists concerned are actually worthy of their titles. Unfortunately, the example of Teila in my electorate in Merbein is a case that I have to tell you about because it's beyond sad. She had to travel to Melbourne to see a specialist gynaecologist on numerous occasions because she couldn't access care close to home, as I said. Teila has recently found out, as a result of investigations by the media, that the gynaecologist she had put her trust in, Dr Simon Gordon—now infamous—had treated hundreds of women like her, who have now come forward with strikingly similar experiences of harm, including unnecessary or inappropriate medical procedures, failures in informed consent, dismissal of symptoms and significant physical and psychological injury. Many of these women are now living with permanent health consequences—loss of fertility, chronic pain, trauma and profound disruption to their lives and families.

Teila has experienced psychological harm due to what she now understands was unwarranted and inappropriate surgical treatment. She lives with ongoing, debilitating pain. She is a nurse and feels let down by the very system she works in. Teila's experience, like those of other women who have bravely come forward, must be formally acknowledged. The alleged circumstances must be fully investigated in a timely fashion by the appropriate national bodies.

The Australian government must work with state governments to ensure systemic and institutional issues within the hospital system are investigated and dealt with. Patient safety, informed consent and transparency must be paramount. Women in rural and remote Australia deserve more than this government is offering them. They deserve a health system that meets them where they live and delivers the high-quality, best-practice multidisciplinary care that clinical guidelines recommend. They must be protected by a strong regulatory and transparency mechanism.

I urge the government to work constructively with regional MPs, health professionals and communities to design and fund truly accessible models. Only then will we turn clinic numbers on a map into real health outcomes for the women who need it most.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very proud to rise in favour of a motion that speaks to a turning point when it comes to how we view women's health, and I acknowledge the significant milestone that it represents for women and girls across Australia. I want to thank the member for Lalor for bringing it to the parliament, and I acknowledge the previous member's contribution to shining a light particularly on the experience of regional women.

For far too long, women's health has not been taken seriously, and too many women and young girls have had their serious pain and suffering dismissed. Too many women have been left unsupported when they needed it most. Too many women have fallen through the gaps in our healthcare system, waiting years for diagnosis and care. I want to acknowledge all the women, some of them calling themselves 'endo warriors', who have shared their very personal stories and their battles within the healthcare system, because it is those stories and their standing up and sharing these experiences that have led to change, to a recognition of this disease, to bettering our understanding of what these women are going through and to recognition within the medical system.

From my electorate, there are a couple of names that come to mind. One is Caitlyn Tough MLA. Another is Ellie Angel-Mobbs, who's been a radio presenter in Canberra. There is also Ella Blackamore, whose horrific story we read about in the Canberra Times this weekend. But there are so many more. There are so many women who have experienced shocking years of their pain being dismissed, and I want to acknowledge that today as well as what it meant for them to share those stories and what that has meant in terms of policy and changes in medicine. I also want to acknowledge my predecessor, the former member for Canberra, Gai Brodtmann, who used her role in parliament to do a lot to shine a light on this and worked really tirelessly to highlight endometriosis.

The Labor government is recognising these gaps, and we're doing the work to actively address them. We've said we would open endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across the country. We originally promised 22, but we've now delivered 33, including one here in the electorate of Canberra. With these clinics operating around the nation, we are seeing real, tangible change, because these clinics make an immense amount of difference for women and girls who have lived with debilitating pain without diagnosis or treatment, and we are working to expand what they can offer. All 33 clinics are now being expanded to deliver menopause and premenopause care as well, and we will ensure that women are supported at every stage of life.

In 2024 I had the opportunity to join the former assistant minister for health and aged care, Ged Kearney, at the announcement to establish the endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic right here in Canberra. I want to acknowledge as well Assistant Minister Kearney for her longstanding commitment to improving women's health and all the work she had done in that space first as a nurse, then as a union leader and then in her role in parliament. The clinic at Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT means that people in our community can now access the specialised care and support that they need closer to home—care and support that is built for them and built around their needs.

Importantly, this work is being reinforced locally, and I'd like to highlight the ACT government's inquiry into endometriosis and other pelvic pain conditions. This inquiry is helping to shine a light on the lived experiences of many women across the ACT who are managing chronic pain, often without the recognition and support that they deserve. It is an important step in ensuring these voices are heard and that the healthcare system continues to respond to them.

From a federal perspective, this only reinforces the importance of continued investment in women's health and the need to keep building a system that listens and delivers. Ultimately, this is what equity in health care looks like, because this work does not just stop at the clinics we've opened around the country. It is part of our government's broader, landmark—almost $800 million—investment through our women's health package. We know that, systemically, women's health has been ignored, and this investment is changing that. We've capped PBS scripts at $25, including new contraceptives and menopause therapies. I'll just say this again: it had been 30 years since new contraceptive pills had been added to the PBS. I just find that extraordinary, and this is changing that. We've also boosted Medicare rebates for IUDs and other long-acting contraceptives to save women up to $400 and introduced new Medicare items to make gynaecological and menopause care more affordable, because women's health needs to be taken seriously, and our government is taking it seriously.

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

I rise today to speak on this Labor government's women's health package. The government boasts opening 11 new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. They brag that 33 clinics are now open nationwide. While those numbers look great here in Canberra, they mask a very clear divide. When it comes to real care, regional South Australia has been entirely left off the map. This government is happy to announce 11 new clinics, but do you know how many were allocated to South Australia—the minister's very own state? Zero, nada, nothing. There are only two endo clinics in South Australia: one in Adelaide and one in Kadina. The PHN for country SA has a population of nearly 500,000 people. That's 250,000 women, yet a single clinic is expected to service them all. Is a woman from Ceduna, Port Lincoln or Whyalla expected to drive up to seven hours to Kadina? Excluding regional South Australia from these new clinics shows that regional women are being forgotten.

I have a serious question to ask this Labor government: do we really have universal health care in this country? Tell that to a woman from Marree or a girl from Elliston. The reality is regional, rural and remote South Australians die younger than the metropolitan cousins. We have suicide rates higher than the rest of the state. The electorate of Grey has the highest rates of type 2 diabetes in the entire country. Councils are needing to cough up 50, 60 or 70 grands just to attract a GP to their communities. It is not good enough.

In this Labor government's very own statistics they show they only care about metropolitan Australians. For Medicare urgent care clinics, their task is to have four out of five Australians within a 20-minute drive. Again, that does not help regional South Australians. It services the metropolitan communities only. Driving hours to access basic services is wrong. The logistics are complex, especially from the Eyre Peninsula or up north.

When regional women face severe pain, infertility and chronic nausea, we tell them to drive hours to get help or we rely on transport schemes to send them to Adelaide instead of treating them locally. We used to be able to treat complex issues in regional hospitals but not any more. Per capita, SA Health spend more money in Adelaide than they do outside of Adelaide. Given the logistical difficulties of serving healthcare in the regions, this is unacceptable.

Endometriosis Australia points out that this disease affects one in seven women and that diagnosis can take up to seven years. Expanding access to outer regions is vital, or that wait time could get worse. Local medical staff feel the strain. Dr Anna Kearney from Kadina notes that receiving zero new clinics was 'a bad but not unexpected result'. She also highlights that local doctors can manage period pain but that the government gives them next to zero support to do so. This failure of support also extends to bulk-billing and urgent care clinics across our regions. My office is hearing that the online bulk-billing admin system is a total joke, with local fly-in doctors having to register multiple times only for the system to drop off without warning.

Allocated Medicare urgent clinics are also a key issue. Whyalla got one, and of course I welcome that, but Port Lincoln was somehow overlooked. The stats show that Port Lincoln was deserving of an urgent Medicare clinic. But, of course, the politics got in the way. Allocating one endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic per PHN is flawed when our network covers such an enormous part of the state. We must listen to patients. Deanna Flynn Wallis is an ambassador for Endometriosis Australia. She says the journey, medical gaslighting and the life impacts are exhausting. She says that South Australians need more clinics for our regional warriors. This lack of foresight extends across all regional health care, including vital maternal support.

The women of regional South Australia are tough, but they should not have to fight their own government just to get basic health care. They have carried the heavy burdens of distance and neglect. They work hard, they raise their families, and they build our communities. Regional women deserve the world. They deserve expert care right where they live. It is time this parliament stopped abandoning them. We must fund the clinics they need right now in the regions they proudly call home.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Women experiencing endometriosis and pelvic pain have, for too long, been overlooked, dismissed and left waiting years for answers—not weeks, not months, but years. This is not just bad period pain. This is a serious health issue. As we've heard today from every single speaker, I think everyone is in fierce agreement that it needs to be taken seriously and that we need to deliver the services.

I know that this is an issue that is deeply personal for many women. I was one of those women. From the age of about 15 years, I personally experienced very heavy periods, debilitating pain and ongoing pelvic health concerns that continued well into adulthood. Like too many women, it took years for my concerns to be taken seriously. I was eventually connected with the care I needed, through an understanding GP, after the births of my three children. I know that my experience is far from unique. Many women and girls in my community of Bonner have shared their stories—stories of pain being dismissed, symptoms being normalised and years spent waiting for answers. Too many still suffer in silence. That is why I am proud that the Albanese Labor government has delivered 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across our country. Women and girls now have access to specialised care in every primary-health-network region right across our country.

Endometriosis affects one in seven Australian women. It is a condition that can cause severe chronic pain, fatigue and fertility challenges, yet women still face an average seven-year delay in diagnosis. The lesser known adenomyosis is a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows into the muscular wall of the uterus. It can also cause heavy periods, bloating, pelvic pain and fatigue, and it is most commonly diagnosed in women in their 30s and 40s. That was part of my diagnosis. Pelvic pain is also a complex, often debilitating, condition that carries enormous personal, social and economic impact, costing the Australian economy an estimated $6 billion each and every year. Behind all of these statistics are, of course, women whose lives have been disrupted—a young woman who might be missing school because the pain is unbearable, people struggling to remain in the workforce, women sitting in emergency departments desperate for answers or women who have spent years wondering if their feelings are normal or if this is somehow their fault. Women deserve better than that. That is exactly part of what these clinics deliver.

Each endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic provides expert multidisciplinary care for women and girls living with endometriosis and pelvic pain conditions. Importantly, they operate within existing general practices. Keeping care close to home and connected to community is so important. That means that women can access earlier diagnosis, improve pain management, have stronger referral pathways and get better support from professionals who understand the complexity of these conditions. Our local clinic that has opened in Oxley is helping women from my community in Bonner, and it is servicing the Brisbane south region. Across Australia, the clinics have already supported more than 10,000 women and girls and delivered more than 28,000 services for those living with endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain.

The other important thing that we need to do is raise awareness and support. Last week, I was so pleased to see the Albanese Labor government's $8.4 million commitment to Jean Hailes. Through trusted online health information, practical resources, webinars, research and national initiatives like Women's Health Week, Jean Hailes is helping millions of women and girls better understand health and access through evidence based information they can trust, including on issues like endometriosis and pelvic pain, both in our cities and of course in the regions.

Alongside endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, better information and awareness can help women access care sooner, feel more informed and know they are not navigating these experiences alone. Women deserve to be believed when it comes to their health, and the Albanese Labor government understands this and is delivering for all women.

Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I couldn't allow a discussion of endo to go on in this place without mentioning and paying tribute to the legacy of my predecessor in the seat of Forrest, Nola Marino, whose deeply personal and profoundly effective advocacy in this space was built on the experiences of her daughter Kylie, whose story Nola shared because it highlighted the failings of our healthcare system and its inability to respond to endo appropriately.

After seeing two gynaecologists, who simply dismissed Kylie and told her that she was overstating her symptoms, her condition progressed disastrously. Finally, a third gynaecologist diagnosed what he called the worst case of endometriosis he'd ever seen, so aggressive that it was attached to her bowel and was strangling it. The disease almost killed Kylie, who, in the course of very, very serious treatment, developed peritonitis, septicaemia, a lower bowel infection, a burst appendix and had an episode where her heart went into fibrillation while she was in surgery. She spent 11 days in ICU, had some 1,500 internal staples, 15 tubes inserted and three external colostomy bags. That is how serious endo can be for women in Australia. It of itself is a story that highlights how unacceptable it is that for a condition affecting some one in seven women in Australia, the average wait time for a diagnosis can be seven years. So Nola's advocacy was built on concrete achievements in this place.

I want to take just a few moments to step through those achievements because, alongside the then health minister, Greg Hunt; the then member for Boothby, Nicole Flint; and the then member for Canberra, Nola set up Parliamentary Friends of Endometriosis Awareness, which ultimately led to the National Action Plan for Endometriosis being launched in 2018. It was the first ever national action plan focused on improving awareness of the disease and understanding of its impacts, speeding up diagnosis for Australian women and investing in medical research to develop better treatment options and ultimately pursue a cure. This is a foundational policy document. The entire program has followed on through successive governments.

Additionally, in 2020, Nola managed to get the PPEP Talk into WA, so that school-aged women and girls were receiving the information that would ultimately build the awareness of this insidious disease. Clinical guidelines have gone on to be updated and promulgated across the medical industry, and Nola has led direct constituent outreach across the south-west of WA to build the case for a pelvic pain clinic in the south-west of WA, which is sorely needed. Nola is still an Endometriosis Australia ambassador and remains committed to that work to this day.

I find it a little bit hard to reconcile the government's closer-to-home rhetoric when announcing these new clinics with the fact that for women outside of Perth, the south-west is home to the largest population of people—some 200,000 people—and the only regional clinic in WA is in Albany, which, for women in the south-west affected by endometriosis, is up to a 3½-hour drive from the Perth clinic or a four-hour drive from Albany. It affects one in seven women, who, as I said, have to wait up to seven years for a diagnosis, although hopefully don't experience what Kylie Marino did. I do have to ask why it was that the government chose to pass over the south-west of WA for an endo clinic. It is a priority for the region. It is something I will continue to advocate for, building on Nola Marino's proud legacy in this space. I think it would be fitting that, when one day a government listens to these pleas to build an endo clinic in the south-west of WA, we get Nola Marino there to cut the ribbon and to celebrate what would be a defining achievement for someone so personally committed to advocating in this space.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's women's health package is driving more choice, lower costs and better care for women and girls right across our country. I'm particularly proud of our investment in endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. The Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Clinic at Northside Health in Coconut Grove, Darwin, is led by Dr Danielle Stewart and opened in September 2023. The multidisciplinary team there at Northside Health provide Territory women with access to the care that they need close to home.

Endometriosis affects one in seven Australian women and has a devastating impact on the daily lives of sufferers. Women face an average seven-year delay in diagnosis, which can have a devastating effect on their daily lives. Pelvic pain is similarly complex and debilitating, with broader social and economic impacts. It is estimated to cost the Australian economy $6 billion annually.

I acknowledge the former member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann and former member for Forrest Nola Marino, both of whom fought for years to raise awareness of endometriosis and the debilitating impact it has on women across Australia. Listening to their contributions in this place inspired me, a few years ago now, to consider how we can better support women suffering from endometriosis in Darwin, in Palmerston and in the Northern Territory.

Through this journey I had the privilege of meeting Libby Schoch, an amazing Territorian and a sufferer of endo. Libby and I held several events in Darwin and Palmerston, including roundtables, to hear directly from Territory women about their experiences and the challenges that they faced living with endometriosis but also to let them know that we were listening, that we would act and that they weren't alone. At those events, Territory women described their debilitating pain, the lack of community awareness around endometriosis and the way it impacted their lives—how it impacted their ability to participate in family activities, to exercise, to take part in work; the crippling financial impact of living with endo; the difficulty of accessing pain relief; and how they had even been accused of being drug seekers and the impacts this had on their mental and emotional wellbeing. Clearly, something needed to be done, and that's why we delivered the Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Clinic at Northside Health in 2023. That represented the end of a community engagement process in my electorate that I was proud to play a role in with Libby Schoch and with others in the Top End.

Our federal Labor government is building an Australia-wide support system that previously did not exist. We now have a national network of 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across the country. These are improving access in regional and metropolitan communities. We are funding the development of Australia's first national clinical guidelines for perimenopause and menopause, ensuring consistent, national, evidence based care for women no matter where they live. We are delivering the reform that women were denied for far too long: practical, affordable, evidence based care that improves women's lives.

Since introducing the women's health package, more than 800,000 women have accessed over three million cheaper PBS prescriptions for contraceptives, for menopausal hormone therapies and for endometriosis treatments. This includes, but is not limited to, the first new contraceptive pill listed on the PBS in more than 30 years and the first new menopausal hormone therapies listed in over 20 years. As of January 2026, PBS scripts are just $25, and they are $7.70 for concession card holders, and these are the lowest medicine prices since 2004, over 20 years, giving Australian women more cost-of-living relief with the care that they need.

We're also making Medicare work better for women by delivering the services and specialist care which women have waited too long for. Medicare funded menopause health assessments began on 1 July last year and have already been accessed by more than 100,000 women, giving them the dedicated time and support they deserve at a critical stage in their lives. New Medicare items and higher rebates— (Time expired)

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition has a proud record of supporting women's health, and this remains a strong priority for us. Let me start with a quote: 'Caring for women is not charity. It's an investment in the future of families, communities and nations.' I dare say that every member of this place would agree with me. In the 2021-22 budget, the former coalition government invested more than $353 million to support women's health. That included $22 million to introduce additional gynaecological items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule, including items for assisted reproductive technology, ensuring affordable access to reproductive health services through Medicare. I'd say that there is a bipartisan commitment in this place to make sure that we can actually progress the way in which Australia deals with endometriosis and pelvic pain as well.

But one of the things that I'd say is that, when I speak to women from my electorate of McPherson, their experience is somewhat different to what we hear in this place. I've spoken to women who have heard the Prime Minister say time and time again that you only need a Medicare card, and that's not their experience. I've spoken to women who have, through their endometriosis journeys, had the experience of having to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of their own hard-earned money just for basic testing and for treatment. That's something that is the true lived experience of women. It's something that we need to change and, as a country, we need to do better. I think it would serve this government well if it actually invested in looking at those outcomes and changing those outcomes, as opposed to just talking about these investments. At the end of the day, the people in my electorate and across the country don't see the investment; they see their experience. That's something that we need to put the focus on.

I'd also like to take this opportunity, while we have the member for Forrest in the chamber, to acknowledge the incredible work of his predecessor, the honourable Nola Marino, during her time in this place. She was an absolute champion for those who suffer from endometriosis, and I'd like to note our appreciation on the Hansard record.

One of the things that we as the coalition want to do is ensure that women across Australia, regardless of where they are, in the cities and in the regions, can access care that not only is affordable but also understands their unique experience and their needs. As part of the opposition, something that I will do is, while acknowledging the important progress that's been made, make sure that we as a coalition are able to actually hold this government to account on progressing what were and what are bipartisan commitments. They need to be progressed as soon as possible. These include measures to enhance menopause care for women through a new Medicare rebate; to expand health professional training, which is so critically important; to develop national clinical guidelines; and to also increase funding for endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics.

That package expands on the important work that we started on and my predecessors started on when we were in government previously. That included launching the National Women's Health Strategy and announcing what was an historic investment into Australia's first endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics under the former coalition. So, while we are committed to holding this government to account, we're also committed to working with this government on this really important matter for women across the country. But we are relatively concerned that, under this government, as I spoke to before, the experience of women is that it's never been harder or more expensive for them to access critical primary care. And that is something that needs to change.

I'll just finish with a personal note that was given to me, in relation to a constituent whose wife was going through menopause. He said:

Watching my wife go through menopause has shown me how deeply it affects her—and us as a family. She faced confusion, conflicting advice, and outdated information at every turn. Her persistence and courage helped her find what worked, but too many women are left navigating myths alone. It's time for better research, education, and support—for women and the loved ones who care for them.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.