Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to speak on this during Women's Health Week, whose theme is 'grow your knowledge'. I think that is a theme that all of us, as members of parliament, should personally embrace. I myself, a woman, had very little understanding of issues such as endometriosis before becoming a member of parliament. I must really acknowledge the former member for Boothby, who was a very big champion in this place on the issue of endometriosis. For so long endometriosis and menopause have been issues that are not spoken about; they're whispered. And what we need to do is bring them out into the fore, particularly with respect to endometriosis.

This is an issue that affects one in nine women. For a young woman in my community it took years for her to be diagnosed, and it takes several years for most women to be diagnosed with endometriosis. For her it was so bad that by the time she was diagnosed the only avenue available to her—a young woman not yet 30—was a hysterectomy. It is appalling that we have a system with respect to women's health where they are underdiagnosed. Given that it's one in nine women, many GPs are not immediately asking women, 'Have we thought about endometriosis?' Rather, than in many cases women are told: 'It's usual to have that level of period pain. It's usual to have those symptoms.' I've heard some women say that they were told that it was really all in their head and they just needed to go home and have a Panadol.

We're seeing inroads into specialist endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. They are being established across the country. One of the great shames in South Australia was that the only clinic established in South Australia was in Kadina. It's been fantastic for those who live in Kadina, but it's only now that we have heard from the assistant health minister, after a lot of advocacy particularly from myself and, I'm sure, other members, that we're going to have a clinic in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Imagine being a young woman suffering with endometriosis and the closest clinic to you, the only clinic in South Australia, is several hours away, and you live in the metropolitan area. I'm pleased that the government has fixed this, but it took a lot of advocacy to get there—and I think very unnecessary.

Women with menopause are finally able to share data on platforms such as VITAL, a national perimenopause initiative, to help grow knowledge about menopause and how to survive and thrive.

This is an area of health that has been so neglected. I'm of a certain age now. For us women who are going through menopause, there is very little support available to know what to do: 'Is this normal? Where do I go? Are there treatments available?' There was a very big scare around hormone replacement therapy. A lot of women are not having hormone replacement therapy. A lot of women are not seeing their GP about this, and, unfortunately, a lot of GPs do not have a lot of knowledge in this area to properly support their patients. We need to get real when it comes to women's health. Our health shouldn't just be focused on our reproductive years; it needs to be across the whole life span.

Across the board women spend more on health care, with the ABC recently reporting rising out-of-pocket costs for radiology, particularly for women—that is, for pregnancy ultrasounds. When I had an ultrasound the first one was very expensive; I think they get slightly cheaper as you go. But what you do if you don't have that money in your bank account? The 2022 Grattan Institute report also showed women spend more on health care over their lifetime, from pregnancy through to menopause and complex health conditions such as cancer.

I want to raise lymphedema. This is another issue we're not talking about that has huge debilitating effects, particularly for women post breast cancer treatment. The cost with respect to getting the bandages you need to wear—if you don't wear those bandages, you have enormous swelling. It has huge health impacts, and a lot of women really struggle with the lack of support and the lack of information around. In my community, women have banded together and created their own lymphedema support network.

There is a lack of bulk-billing even for the self-collection option of cervical screening. Just last week I had an email from a constituent who was ready to do her self-collection cervical screening, but she needed to have a GP appointment to collect the script in order to do it. The challenge is finding the money for that GP service. We really need to ensure, if a patient is going to do their own personal cervical screening, that it is a requirement that GPs bulk-bill that treatment. We're seeing women foregoing having that cervical screening simply because of cost, and that's dangerous.

There are strict limitations on magnetic resonance imaging, MRIs, under Medicare for breast scans for women with breast density issues or a high genetic risk of cancer. We're talking about several hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket fees. I've heard from one constituent regarding high fees for radiotherapy following breast cancer. The Cancer Council confirms this concern, citing inconsistent radiotherapy charges across postcodes and providers. This is an area that desperately needs review, with health funds unable to cover sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of out-of-pocket costs because it's seen as an outpatient service. We need to do much more to support women with significant conditions, with earlier and better screening.

We just need to be heard. Women need to be listened to more. When my children were young and I took them to the doctor, my biggest pet peeve was when the doctor—who knew my name—turned to me and went, 'Oh, it's okay, Mum.' It is the most demeaning, condescending treatment you can experience in a GP clinic. I think we need to listen to women and support women. Menopause and endometriosis are not just things in your head; these are clinical issues women are experiencing. We need to ensure the support is there. I hope to see this Women's Health Week raise awareness for these issues and help ensure they are properly funded into the future, and that women feel respected and supported when they're in a medical facility.

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