Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Women 's health is an absolute focus of the coalition, whether it be helping women who live with chronic conditions like endometriosis, supporting women on their journey through menopause or helping families on their fertility journey, we understand that more work is needed to get the policy settings right. That's why it was fantastic to co-chair a women's health roundtable with the shadow minister for women, Sussan Ley, earlier this month during Women's Health Week. We were also joined by Melissa McIntosh, the member for Lindsay, and Senator Maria Kovacic.

The roundtable was attended by a range of medical professionals, allied health representatives and key health peak bodies to discuss issues associated with menopause, endometriosis, fertility and IVF. It resulted in some really critical conversations that just needed to be had, conversations which clearly demonstrated how Australia needs better and more affordable access to quality women's health care.

Hearing the experiences of women on the ground, who face often expensive, long and difficult battles with issues like fertility and endo, this needs to end absolutely. The coalition, if elected, has already committed $5 million towards reviewing women-specific health items on the MBS and PBS. This will ensure Australian women have affordable access to clinically effective services and treatments right across the country. This builds on our proud record of funding important women's health initiatives including our leadership on endometriosis research and support.

In fact, we laid the groundwork for this government's work in this space, but we do know that more needs to be done. We want to ensure that women across Australia can access care that's not only affordable but also understands their experiences and their needs. As the opposition leader committed to in his budget in reply, we're focused on developing policy to ensure the health needs of Australian women are met by our healthcare system.