My question is to the Minister representing the Minister the Health, Disability and Ageing, Senator McAllister. This week is Women's Health Week, which is an opportunity to focus on the health of women and girls across Australia and a timely reminder that women must be supported in our health system. Australian women have been telling governments that their health concerns need greater attention, whether it is endometriosis, menopause or better access to contraception. How is the Albanese Labor government strengthening Medicare to deliver more choice and lower costs for Australian women and girls?

I thank the senator for her question and her tireless work on women's health. For too long women have had their pain ignored. They have had to fight to be heard, and they've paid too much for care that they need. This government believes that this is not good enough. Australian women deserve a health system that listens to them, that takes their concerns seriously and provides them with affordable care that they need. That it is why the Albanese Labor government delivered a record $792 million women's health package. It was to give women more choice, lower costs and better care.

I want to acknowledge the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher, and Assistant Minister Rebecca White in the other place, who have worked so hard to roll this program out. Already more than one million women have saved money on contraceptives, IVF, and endometriosis and menopause medicines. I can tell you what this means in practice. It means that a woman who is trying to a start a family can access more IVF medicine for less, because it is now listed on the PBS. It means that a woman who is going through menopause can get affordable relief, with hormone therapy treatments now listed on the PBS. And it means that a woman choosing contraception has more choice and less of a hit to the hip pocket. For the first time in more than 30 years, new oral contraceptive pills, including Yaz and Slinda, have been listed on the PBS.

This matters. It is earlier and more affordable access to treatment at a time when every dollar matters, and these changes have a simple purpose: women getting the care that they need sooner and at an affordable price. This is what a government that believes in Medicare and that backs women looks like.

Senator Smith, first supplementary?

Minister, every woman deserves to have her pain taken seriously and to get the care that she needs when she needs it. Endometriosis affects at least one in seven Australian women, but women can wait years for a diagnosis. How is the Albanese Labor government strengthening Medicare to help women who are experiencing endometriosis and pelvic pain get earlier care and support?

For many women, getting help for pelvic pain has meant having their pain ignored, dismissed or put in the too-hard basket. On average, as you say, Senator Smith, women wait seven years for an endometriosis diagnosis. That is seven years of pain, seven years of uncertainty, and, for some women, seven years in which their health, their work and their fertility can be affected.

This government is changing that. We've delivered a stronger Medicare that works for women, with 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia. These clinics are helping women and girls get an earlier diagnosis, better support and a clearer pathway to treatment. They also provide perimenopause and menopause care, recognising that women should access specialist support at different stages of their lives. Australian women asked us to listen. We listened, and we're delivering.

Senator Smith, second supplementary?

On this side of the chamber, we know that strengthening Medicare means making sure it works for the health needs of all Australians, and of course this includes women. Can the minister outline why the Albanese Labor government's investments in women's health care were needed?

Labor knows that Medicare is strongest when it works for everyone. That is why we delivered the first new contraceptive and endo medications on the PBS in 30 years. It's why we listed IVF on the PBS. It's why we're rolling out endo and pelvic pain clinics across Australia.

We know that these investments need defending, because there are forces in our society that don't think these issues are a priority. They think they are an indulgence—a waste of public resources—in the same way that they think that women who are domestic violence victims routinely make allegations up. Labor takes a different approach. We will support women's health care. We will support public health care. We built Medicare. We protected it, we expanded it and we are improving it so that it meets the healthcare needs of all Australians, including women.