Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I believe women should have control over their own bodies, and that extends to their birthing choices. Since May, I've heard from many concerned women and midwives about the Albanese government's proposed changes to professional indemnity insurance for privately practising midwives.

The proposal replaces the current homebirth insurance complete exemption and it inadvertently outlaws anything but low-risk homebirths. This ultimately will limit a woman's access to midwifery care. Midwives want to continue supporting homebirths, and they shouldn't have to consider practising illegally in order to do so. The Australian College of Midwives guidelines make clear that, under the current exemption, a midwife can care for and support a woman to make informed decisions about where and how they birth their baby, regardless of their risk. However, the proposed change leaves unclear whether midwives can continue caring for women who don't meet that strict low-risk criteria, which focuses solely on physical, clinical risk.

Stakeholder consultation about this proposal closed yesterday. I'm urging the government to listen to the sector's feedback and ensure that women continue to have control over their bodies and choices in birth.

The Greens believe that women must have the right to choose where they give birth and who supports them during birth. Women want more choice, not less. The government should be providing privately practicing midwives with insurance that covers them for all homebirths, not just for women deemed to be low risk. There's precedent for this; New Zealand has an all-risk model that is 100 per cent government funded, and the Albanese government should look to replicate that model. My body, my choice doesn't end when a woman decides to keep the baby, and all women deserve access to homebirth supported by their midwife. Let's have more publicly available midwives as well.