Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Waters for the question about a very important report to the government from this chamber, Ending the postcode lottery: addressing barriers to sexual, maternity and reproductive healthcare in Australia. The short answer is that the government will respond to the report. We welcome it. We acknowledge that there is an inequity in the health system when it comes to maternal and reproductive health care. We acknowledge there's a lot of work to do, particularly when we inherited a healthcare system in the state that we did—particularly in primary care, where many women access maternal, sexual and reproductive health care. We are working towards tabling our response to the 36 recommendations within the usual time frames, which is around 25 August.

I'd like to thank all the committee members who sat on that inquiry, under, I think, the leadership of Senator Smith. It's a very important inquiry. It's got a lot of recommendations—36 recommendations. We have made some investments in women's health in this budget. Assistant Minister Kearney and Health Minister Butler are very focused on looking at what we can do to make sure we are providing the right support to women where they live, and are working through those issues. Unlike the former government, we will take responding to committee reports seriously.