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

I thank Senator Waters for the question. It's an important one, and it is an important report that the Senate inquiry handed down into access to sexual and reproductive health. As Senator Waters outlined, the report did highlight a number of areas that need improvement so that women could access affordable, timely and appropriate care, including close to where they live. The government is currently working through recommendations outlined in the report, and we will table our response as soon as those are finalised. There are a large number of recommendations in the report—36 in total. The Minister for Health and Aged Care and his assistant ministers are ensuring that we get the response right, working with our state and territory colleagues and consulting with the sector and across departments. We will table our response as soon as it is finalised.

But I would also say we have already invested significant funding and begun work on several of the recommendations in the report. Over 60 per cent of the longer MBS consultations are used by women—that's those consultations that are over 20 minutes under level C items and over 40 minutes under level D items. We have committed over $99.1 million to introduce a new MBS item for consultations of 60 minutes or more to support improved access and affordability for patients with chronic conditions and complex needs, including those with mental health conditions; family, domestic and sexual violence; chronic conditions as well as reproductive health needs and matters like menopause. We've also committed $26.4 million over four years to extend support for research and data collection activities that support women's and girls' health outcomes. We welcomed the TGA's decision to remove a number of restrictions on health professionals who prescribe and dispense MS-2 Step.