Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Women in Australia who are pregnant, especially those who have an unplanned pregnancy, have the right to access a counselling service that will give them all-options, genuine pregnancy counselling information about all of the three options and paths that they can pursue. That is not the case currently in Australia because women do not know which services will provide them with that genuine care. The Transparent Advertising and Notification of Pregnancy Counselling Services Bill 2005 seeks to address that issue by ensuring that organisations which advertise are clear and transparent about what the services are that they will provide women with. Will they provide genuine, all-options pregnancy counselling?

The Greens support this bill because we want to ensure that women who are pregnant, particularly those with an unplanned pregnancy, are able to access a service that meets their needs and is going to provide them with evidence based, medically proven information about public health issues; that is going to listen to their view; and that is going to advise them and assist them in coming to their decision. It is extraordinary that such a service does not exist in Australia. The Greens have concerns about the number of organisations that do not provide that genuine, all-options counselling.

We also have concerns about the amount of government funding that is provided to many of those organisations that are not transparent in their advertising and that do not provide women with all-options counselling. Young women at universities have asked me, ‘How do I know which services are genuine?’ In response, I have produced a guide which outlines which pregnancy counselling services offer genuine pregnancy counselling and which ones do not. I seek leave to table that guide here today.

Leave granted.

It is extraordinarily important that women are able to access this information so that they can know that the services that they are calling up for advice, at a time when they really need that advice, will give them genuine counselling and will help them to decide what is a very difficult decision. (Time expired)