PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Ms JORDAN-BAIRD (Gorton) (11:30): This morning I want to share the story of a young woman who lives in my electorate. Amelia is a 22-year-old woman who loves hiking and loves the outdoors, but she's also a young woman who has lived with endometriosis for most of her life. For years, Amelia had been suffering from endometriosis without any idea of what was causing her pain.

For years, she was told that pain was simply part of being a woman. And, for years, she was told to just get on with it. But even with all those voices telling her otherwise, Amelia knew something wasn't right.

Just being a normal 22-year-old was hard—making plans with friends, focusing on her studies and enjoying the outdoors. At appointments, she would have to explain again and again just how much pain she was in, while waiting for someone to take her seriously. Eventually, Amelia received an endometriosis diagnosis.

Her diagnosis was a huge step. Finally, she knew why she was so in much pain, why it was so hard to go about normal life and why she couldn't just 'get on with it'. But a diagnosis didn't make the journey easy.

She faced treatment, procedures, ongoing pain and the uncertainty of not knowing what the next day may bring. Amelia's story is all too common. For too many women and girls, severe period pain has been normalised for far too long.

They learn to push through it. They miss school. They miss work.

They cancel plans. They live around their pain. That's why talking about women's health is so incredibly important.

Last week was Women's Health Week, with the theme of Do it Anyway. It's a simple message that carries enormous meaning. Do it Anyway recognises that women too often make themselves the last priority, putting their own health aside to focus on looking after others.

But it also recognises how much stigma and fear some women face in those moments where they have to speak up for themselves. This year, Women's Health Week is about doing it anyway. Do it anyway—make an appointment and keep it.

Do it anyway—ask a second question when things don't make sense. Do it anyway—speak up when something doesn't feel right. Just do it anyway.

On indulgence, I'd like to acknowledge my Aunt Kerrie Thomas, a theatre nurse at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and Uncle Gill Thomas, a retired pharmacist, and thank them for their contribution to the healthcare sector and acknowledge their presence in the chamber today. Women's Health Week is also important because, historically, women's health has not been the focus.

Conditions that mostly or only affect women have often been dismissed as something women just have to put up with. This approach has impacted women's health in many ways, but one area in which the impact has been particularly big is women's heart health. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death for Australian women, and yet the symptoms and signs of cardiovascular disease in women have often been missed because women experience heart problems differently than men.

We also need to recognise that cardiovascular risk can change throughout a woman's life. That's why we can't talk about women's health issues in isolation. It's why we have to recognise that women's health requires a life course approach to prevention, early intervention and access to appropriate care.

It's why we have to take opportunities like Women's Health Week to talk about women's health issues properly. This government is establishing a ministerial expert panel on women's health focused specifically on cardiovascular health. It will bring together medical experts, health organisations and women with lived experience of this important issue.

It's also why the Senate has established a Senate Select Committee on Women's Health focusing on women's health issues, including fertility, postpartum health and women's pain, so that we can look at women's health holistically and make a real difference to women's health in this country—because young women like Amelia should be thinking about their future, not planning their lives around their pain; because women should receive targeted education and treatment that recognises that women don't always experience health conditions in the same way that men do; and because every woman deserves to know that their health is important.