Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. This week is Women's Health Week. Minister, we know for too long women's health has been ignored. Can you expand on how the Albanese Labor government has taken action, including making record investments in women's health with pelvic pain clinics, new contraceptives and Medicare rebates for menopause? Minister, our commitment to investing in women's health, of course, sits alongside the government's commitment to strengthening Medicare and making medicines cheaper. How are Australian women benefiting from the government's investments in women's health?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm so pleased that Senator Smith asked me this question. It gives me the opportunity to place on the record and acknowledge the work that she did in the previous term in the area of women's health, particularly the focus on perimenopause and menopause. It's a direct result of some of Senator Smith's work that we are able to incorporate some of the measures we have and are implementing in this term of government.

This week is National Women's Health Week. It's a nationwide campaign, with events focused on improving women's health. I would also like to acknowledge the work that the member for Cooper, Ms Kearney, did on the women's health package throughout last term. Over the last term, we opened 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across all states and territories. We've also listed new contraceptives on the PBS for the first time in 30 years, including Yas and Yasmin from 1 March and Slinda from 1 May. We've listed new menopause therapies on the PBS for the first time in over 20 years, including Prometrium, Estrogel and Estrogel Pro from 1 March. We've established a new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments, and over 20,000 women have undergone a menopause health assessment, covered by Medicare, since they became available on 1 July.

We've made longer gynaecology consultations cheaper through two MBS items, from 1 July, which allows for consultations of 45 minutes or longer, allowing those complex conditions women may have to be addressed by a doctor. We are also opening a further 11 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. We're making long-acting reversible contraception insertion cheaper, and we're training more medical professionals on how to do that. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, first supplementary?

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Women across Australia often face barriers to diagnosis and higher costs when it comes to accessing the care that they need and deserve. How will Labor's cheaper medicines bill, passed earlier this week, help women with the cost of their health care?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): Senator Smith is correct in linking the women's health package, along with other measures, going into cheaper medicines and bulk-billing incentives and the increases we have put in there. New figures released today show that hundreds of thousands of Australian women are already accessing cheaper medicines and better health care, thanks to those measures. Since announcing the women's health package earlier this year, just in the last seven months, more than 365,000 women have accessed more than 715,000 cheaper scripts for oral contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis treatments listed on the PBS. Before the listings of Yaz, Yasmin and Slinda on the PBS, women were paying about $380 a year for their contraceptives. Now they are paying less than half that, at $126,40, or just $30.80 with a concession card. Before the listing of Estrogel, Prometrium and Estrogel Pro, women might have paid up to $670 a year. They are now paying $31.60 per script. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, second supplementary?

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is investing in perimenopause and menopause, periods and contraception, and endometriosis and adenomyosis. The government is listening to women and investing in health support for all stages of life, but, of course, not in isolation. How will broader investments to strengthen Medicare also support women in accessing the health care that they need?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Senator Smith points out, we are looking at how we can bolster and strengthen women's health care across the board, not just in specific clinics, like endo clinics, or in specific medicines but across the board. We are looking at how we can make sure that women get the health care they need, when they need and where they need it. We've already seen how women are benefitting from 60-day dispensing and through lowering the price of medicines. We know that women visit the GP more often and often have higher out-of-pocket costs. Women will be a big beneficiary of our biggest investment in bulk-billing, which will start from 1 November. We'll also open 50 more Medicare urgent care clinics so that four in five Australians will live within 20 minutes of an urgent care clinic across Australia. These will support women and their families in accessing the care they need when they need it. We're also investing $1 billion to deliver more free public mental health services, which will also support women, including younger women.