PMB - Endometriosis

Endometriosis Awareness Month

Video

It is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and I want to formally thank the member for Bendigo for bringing this motion to the House to give us an opportunity to highlight not just the issues but also some of the history around this House's approach to endometriosis and to go through, in some detail, the response from the Albanese Labor government.

Let me first pay tribute to a former member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann and the work that she did—often in partnership with the member for Maranoa, who was representing the opposition—to raise awareness in this federal parliament about the impact of endometriosis. Now, thanks to their work, we all know that it takes a huge toll in terms of not just the mental and physical health but also the quality of life for women who suffer from endometriosis. It is a highly individualised disease, and the symptoms and impacts range significantly from person to person. But it's estimated that endometriosis affects at least one in nine Australian women and has an extensive, devastating impact on the daily lives of sufferers, with people experiencing an unacceptable average wait of seven years before diagnosis. Their pain can be similarly complex and debilitating. Research has also shown that one in two Australian women experience pelvic pain and that half of those women do not discuss their symptoms with their doctor, despite significant impacts on work or study.

I have been in this place for 10 years, and I'm finally a member of a government that has not just a commitment to gender equity but also a laserlike focus on gender equity and gender data in our health system.

I want to mention the National Women's Health Summit that occurred last week, on 14 March, led by the Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing, the member for Cooper, Ged Kearney. The National Women's Health Summit came about because there was an advisory council on women's health to raise issues. It wasn't just about endometriosis but about the way women are experiencing our health system and the sector, so we can get clearer data about the way our health system is responding to women's health issues. Endometriosis is like a microcosm of that; as this motion says, women are going for seven years before diagnosis. I know we've heard these stories time and time again in this place, but the fact of the matter is that waiting seven years for that diagnosis can mean that women have missed a significant amount of work or have given up employment because of the guilt they feel about not being able to go to work every day, not knowing when it's going to strike or when the pain is going to be so bad that they can't present for work.

The importance of these clinics is quite simple. They bring into an existing practice considerable expertise in this specific area. Rather than women going to their GP or hunting around the country for a GP that understands their condition, they can now identify a clinic to attend. Even with only 22 around the country, that's 22 more than there were when we took office. Women know there's a clinic where the expertise will be available to them. They can walk in, as a patient, and know that they're going to talk to somebody who's informed, who has been involved in the research and who has the practice capacity to diagnose them and ensure that they're getting the support they need. We've also given access to new Medicare funded MRI scans to assist investigations for infertility for those with severe endometriosis. And we're developing an endometriosis management plan and other measures to better support those affected with endometriosis.

I want to congratulate the many endometriosis patients, their families, organisations and health sector leaders for their continued advocacy on endometriosis awareness and education. I say to women in my electorate—young or middle aged—that it's time to take this disease seriously. Get yourselves to the clinics in Melbourne and make sure that you're getting you're getting a diagnosis and your treatment.