Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Women's health is an issue that I'm incredibly passionate about. A couple of months ago I wrote to every single woman who lives in my electorate asking them to participate in a women's health forum. I have been a member of parliament now for 10 years on Thursday. When I think of everything I have done with my local community, this is one of those events that really stands out as something that absolutely hit a nerve. We had an absolutely amazing turnout of women. More than 200 women shared their stories with us and talked to us about some of the issues that they've had using our healthcare system here in Australia. I was very lucky to have with me Ged Kearney MP, who is the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and also Dr Sarah White, the CEO of Jean Hailes for Women's Health, which is located in my electorate in Hotham.

We had an amazing conversation that night, and I really want to thank all the women who came and acknowledge the raw honesty with which they talked about some of the ups and downs of trying to get access to the medical care they deserve as Australians. I want to share with the parliament some of the themes that came up in the discussion we had. There were a lot of stories about general awareness of women's health issues amongst medical professionals—just basic understanding of the ways that women and men's bodies operate differently and that so much of the support and training that's provided to medical professionals doesn't always work when it comes to women, even though we are more than 50 per cent of the population. Cost, of course, is an issue for all Australians, but, for Australian women in particular, it's a major issue. We talked a lot about bulk-billing access, which is something our government has been absolutely religiously focused on. We also talked about medicine. We have done a lot to reduce the cost of medicines, but these continue to be issues in the electorate.

We heard a lot about delays in diagnoses and heard a lot about endometriosis, fertility issues, mental health and particular issues that women with neurodiversity have in accessing the healthcare system. I think what got everyone together on the night were the stories we heard about women going to medical professionals with really clear, serious problems and being dismissed, being gaslit by medical professionals and not being able to get the help and support they need, especially around things to do with parenting, around weight—with women being overweight always being looked at as the cause of health issues, when in fact there's something else going on—and around pain, in terms of women not being believed when they're experiencing pain. These experiences can be very disheartening for women trying to access the system, but, at the end of the day, they can actually be deadly. We heard some horrendous stories about really serious issues that were overlooked because of some of these problems.

The Albanese government is fiercely committed to building a healthcare system that's accessible to all. We have done an enormous amount of work in the last 15 months around extending bulk-billing, supporting cheaper medicines for patients and making sure that women's health takes priority, as it did in the budget. It was really thrilling for these women to hear about those initiatives and support the work that our government still has to do.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.