STATEMENTS ON SIGNIFICANT MATTERS

Ms CLAYDON (Newcastle—Deputy Speaker) (11:56): I rise to speak about Women's Health Week and the important progress we're making to ensure women can access the health care they need when they need it. It's an opportunity to celebrate the incredible women and health professionals who are improving women's health every day, but it's also an opportunity to acknowledge the gaps that have existed for far too long, and to talk about what happens when governments decide to do something about them.

For generations, too many women have been told that pain is normal, that heavy periods are something you just need to put up with, that endometriosis is somehow just part of being a woman, that the symptoms of menopause are something to quietly endure, and that reproductive health is something women should somehow just find a way to pay for. Too often women have had to become their own health advocates just to get their concerns taken seriously.

Well, the Albanese Labor government is changing that, and we have made record investments in women's health—almost $800 million—to make health care more affordable, to give women more choice and to improve access to the care that they need at every single stage of life. That's an investment that is already making a real difference. Just last week we celebrated an incredible milestone.

More than one million Australian women have now benefited from cheaper medicines through our health package. These women have filled more than four million cheaper medicine prescriptions, saving more than $150 million. That's $150 million that is staying in the pockets of women and families across Australia.

Behind that number are one million individual women—women who can afford the medicines they need, women who have more choices about their own bodies and women who no longer have to make an impossible choice between paying for a prescription and paying for another household bill. For the first time in more than 30 years, new oral contraceptives have been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

More than 400,000 women have already benefited from cheaper contraceptive medicines, saving more than $55 million. For the first time in more than 20 years, new menopausal hormone therapies have been listed on the PBS. More than 520,000 women have already used these medicines at the cheaper PBS price, saving $110 million.

This is a profound change, because menopause isn't some niche issue; it's something that around half the population is going to experience, yet for years women were left with limited treatment options and too often had to navigate a health system that was not designed around their needs. Our government is making contraception much more accessible. We've increased the Medicare rebates for the insertion and removal of IUDs and contraceptive implants, and we're reducing out-of-pocket costs for women.

We're establishing eight long-acting reversible contraceptive centres of training and excellence around Australia. These centres will help train more health professionals to provide LARC care while improving access to safe, effective contraception. That's about giving women choice, because there should never be a one-size-fits-all approach to women's health.

We're also delivering better care for women living with endometriosis and pelvic pain. There are now 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics open and operating across Australia. These clinics mean women can access specialised care closer to home.

Importantly, since 1 July, all 33 clinics have expanded their scope to provide support and care for perimenopause and menopause. More than 137,000 women have already undergone menopause health assessment since it became covered by Medicare. These numbers matter.

What matters most is what they actually represent. They represent women being listened to, women getting answers, women having treatment options and women being able to access health care without cost being the big barrier. That work is particularly important because women's health does not exist in isolation.

Health outcomes are shaped by where we live, whether we can afford care, whether we feel safe about accessing services, and whether the health system understands the circumstances that we're living through. We can see this clearly in my community in Newcastle. The Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network is doing extraordinary work to make sure that women experiencing domestic and family violence can access health care in a way that's safe, trauma informed and responsive to their circumstances.

The PHN has developed specialist training for primary health workers, helping GPs, nurses and practice staff to be able to recognise domestic and family violence and respond appropriately. This matters because doctors' surgeries are sometimes among the few places where women experiencing violence have an opportunity to speak privately about that violence with someone that they trust.

Healthcare workers need the skills and confidence to recognise these signs and ask the right questions and then connect women with the right support. The PHN has also developed primary healthcare outreach programs that take the health care directly into refuge and crisis accommodation services in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland. That's exactly what a good health system should do.

It should not simply wait for someone to overcome every barrier and suddenly walk through the door. It should ask, 'What is stopping this woman from getting the care she needs, and how do we remove that barrier?' For women and kids escaping violence, these barriers can include safety, transport, cost, trauma and the complexity of navigating multiple systems. Taking that multidisciplinary approach in health care and providing a safe and trusted environment just makes a world of difference.

Then there's the remarkable work that's happening through the Hope in Healing Project. This is again a Hunter based initiative, tackling the question of brain injuries caused through family and domestic violence. Mild traumatic brain injuries are often really difficult to detect, and a woman often will not present at hospital.

She may have an injury that doesn't appear serious enough for emergency department treatment, but that doesn't mean there's no injury or lasting impact. This project, led through the University of Newcastle and supported by the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network and Port Stephens Family and Neighbourhood Services, is developing a new model of care that can help identify and then support victims-survivors who are experiencing mild traumatic head injuries and brain trauma.

It received almost $1 million through the Medical Research Future Fund to trial that model, and it's an excellent example of what can happen with government investment, great local organisations, researchers and community services all working together. It's an example of why women's health policy can't simply be about individual medicines or individual Medicare items.

It's about building a health system that understands women's lives. It's a system that will recognise the relationship between physical health, mental health, safety and social circumstance, a system that somehow understands the experience of violence can have health consequences that linger long after the violence has ended. And it's a system that's prepared to innovate to meet those needs.

That's the approach Labor brings to women's health. We listen to women, we invest in the gaps, and we work with health professionals and community organisations. Then we measure whether that investment is actually improving people's lives.

There is, of course, much more to do. Women still experience poorer outcomes in some areas of health. There are still unacceptable gaps in research.

There are still women whose pain is dismissed and whose symptoms go undiagnosed. There are still challenges around fertility, pregnancy, postpartum care, cardiovascular disease, sexual and reproductive health, and women's mental health. And that is why the work must continue.

Women's Health Week is also a chance to recognise just how far we've come. For too long, women's health was treated as an afterthought. Under Labor, it's a national priority—whether it's cheaper contraceptives for young women starting out, menopause treatment for a woman in the middle of her career, specialised care for someone living with endometriosis or trauma informed health care for women escaping violence.

These are all part of the same principle: women deserve health care that works for them, they deserve to be heard, they deserve choice, and they deserve to be able to access the care they need without cost, stigma or circumstance standing in the way. This is what we're working to deliver, and in Newcastle I'm incredibly proud to see that national commitment being translated into great local action.

So this Women's Health Week, I want to thank the women—doctors, nurses, researchers, pharmacists and allied health workers, all of whom are helping to make this amazing change.