Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Amendment Bill 2024—an important piece of legislation because it extends the existing Midwife Professional Indemnity Scheme, a scheme that supports midwives to do their vital work with confidence. I chose to speak on this legislation for two reasons: because my mum started studying midwifery but didn't finish it—instead, she had 10 children—and because my neighbour Rachel is a midwife.

In a nutshell, this legislation means that eligible midwives who work in out-of-hospital settings can access the same professional indemnity insurance as their colleagues who practise in hospitals. This underpins Labor's belief that women should be able to choose where they give birth and, wherever it is, be able to do so safely. If they choose not to deliver in a hospital, women should be able to trust that they will receive equally safe, high-quality, respectful and woman centred care.

The Australian College of Midwives describes the role of midwife as a maternity care specialist with the knowledge and capability to ensure the best health outcomes for mother and baby; they are the mother's advocate, helping the mother to achieve the experience she wants. Midwives are acknowledged to be a critical part of our health system, and they are highly valued for their care, compassion and expertise.

This bill amends the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010. Specifically, it develops a framework for the Commonwealth government to pay 100 per cent of eligible claims for intrapartum care outside of hospital. Intrapartum refers to the time period from the onset of labour until the delivery of the placenta, the critical period where the child is born. It is a crucial time of care for both the mother and the child, and the midwife is there for it all, using their expertise to support the mother and literally guide the child into the world. The framework stipulates that the homebirths and intrapartum care outside of hospital must be conducted in accordance with the best practice guidelines, namely, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia's Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives.

The bill includes 100 per cent coverage for eligible entities which employ midwives for birthing on country, such as the Aboriginal community controlled health organisations. For numerous reasons, including maternal and community wellbeing, it is vital to safeguard access to culturally safe birthing-on-country rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and this bill makes this possible.

The legislation will come into effect on 1 July 2025 and will resolve the existing issues of gaps in coverage. It will also give the professional indemnity insurer ongoing certainty of the Commonwealth's responsibility for the costs pertaining to professional negligence claims. As the amazing assistant minister said, this bill is about empowering Australia's hardworking midwives, supporting women and mothers and ensuring equitable access to continuous, culturally safe maternity care. It is a testament to our commitment to strengthening Australia's healthcare system.

It is that aspect that I would like to touch on now—the Albanese Labor government's extensive measures to improve the Australian healthcare system, especially for women. This year, the Women's Budget Statement highlighted the reality that girls and women experience gender bias in the health system. Unsurprisingly, this leads to poorer outcomes, such as delayed diagnoses and subsequent treatment and higher out-of-pocket costs. Girls and women may also be adversely affected by a lack of understanding and, unfortunately, sometimes even a stigma around women's health issues, such as menstruation, miscarriage and menopause.

This is just one of the reasons behind Working for women: astrategy for gender equality, and the government has committed to the aims of that report. These include not only the recognition of gendered health issues but responsiveness to them with fewer barriers to information, diagnosis, treatment and services. The strategy ties in with the bill we're discussing today, with the commitment to women having choice and access to safe and affordable maternal, sexual and reproductive health care.

This was the background to this year's budget announcement of nearly $50 million to not only enhance but revolutionise health services for women with complex gynaecological conditions. What this means is an additional 430,000 more services so affected women can receive longer consultations of 45 minutes or more. Medicare now pays the same fee to a gynaecologist for a long and complex consultation as it does for appointments for other specialities, such as cardiology and gastroenterology. This directly addresses the structural inequality that girls and women have endured for years.

At the same time, this year's budget provided over $58 million of funding to establish endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia. The clinics provide expert multidisciplinary care, enabling more appropriate and more timely diagnosis and management. Endometriosis is a debilitating chronic condition that affects one in nine girls and women in Australia. These clinics are ensuring improved pain management for sufferers, as well as building an expert primary care workforce. We're also adding longer Medicare consultations for patients with suspected endometriosis and pelvic pain.

Further measures announced in the budget include support for women who have suffered miscarriages and free period products via national Aboriginal community controlled health organisations, or NACCHOs. The budget also directed $57 million over four years from 2024-25 to promote high-quality and tailored maternity care. This applies to recommendations from the MBS Review taskforce for participating midwives. It increases the time for antenatal and postnatal consultations, more adequately reflecting the time that expert care actually takes—and then you set kids up for life. The funding covers the introduction of a six-week check-up after birth to help identify any mental health issues and ensures the all-important continuity of care with midwives.

These wide-ranging reforms benefit girls and women in every community across Australia. The extension of the professional indemnity program for midwives working outside of hospital settings indicates Labor's commitment to women's health and women's choices. As the minister said, the Albanese government recognises that continuity of care in midwifery is incredibly important and has the best outcomes for women and babies and we will continue to work to make sure that it is accessible and supported. This was another failure of the former government in health care, but, as always, the Albanese government cleaned up the mess. Thank you to Ged Kearney for the great work that you do in this area, and I commend the bill to the House.

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