SALLY SITOU, MEMBER FOR REID: For too long women have felt that they have been dismissed or ignored, or their pain hasn't been recognised, but no longer. We are a government that has invested in women's health, including pelvic pain and endometriosis clinics, listing more contraceptives on the PBS to make them affordable, improving care for women who are going through menopause. And this is another announcement to help women make choices about the contraceptives that they use. And I'm so excited to be here with Assistant Minister Rebecca White.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: Thank you so much, Sally, for inviting us to your beautiful electorate of Reid. Thank you very much to Family Planning for hosting us here today. I'm really excited that, as a part of our nearly $800 million women's health package delivered by the Albanese Labor Government, we are announcing today that we have officially opened our eight Centres for Excellence for long-acting reversible contraceptives right across the country - one in every single state and territory, delivering access for women to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) and IUDs so that they can make choices about their reproductive health, and do that with a caring health professional and for it to be entirely bulk billed.
This is a service that I think has long been needed and we've made enormous changes since coming to government. Including from 1 November last year, increasing the Medicare rebate for LARC insertions which has seen most women who are accessing this service receive bulk billing services, saving nearly $400. It's about increasing choice, increasing affordability, and increasing access. Because women have, for too long, had to make decisions about what they can and can't afford and often had their requests dismissed. We've listed contraceptives on the PBS new medications for the first time in 30 years just last year, and now today's announcement of the Centres of Excellence, one in every state and territory, means more women have more choice when it comes to their reproductive health.
We have been working incredibly hard to make sure women can access the services where they need them. In each of these clinics, women will be able to walk in the door, meet with a health professional, have an IUD inserted, make sure that they're given options around pain relief because we know that's been a real barrier for a lot of people taking up getting an IUD. But in addition to that, these services will also be providing outreach. We want women right across Australia, no matter where they live, to be able to have access to the care that they deserve, including contraceptive choices.
So, I'm really thrilled that we're here today to be able to announce that every single one of these eight centres is open, is welcoming new patients, and I really strongly encourage Australian women to consider this as a choice for their contraceptive options, because we know that IUDs have a 99 per cent effectiveness rate. But in addition to that, they can also be really useful for managing heavy periods or endometriosis and other conditions that might be impacting on the ability for a woman just to go about her day-to-day business.
So I'm really thrilled to be able to introduce now Dr Lucy Cho, who's a doctor here. And she can speak to some of the clinical reasons why a service like this is really important, but also what she's seeing as a doctor serving patients in this community.
LUCY CHO, FAMILY PLANNING AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Minister. Family Planning Australia is really delighted to have been appointed the New South Wales LARC Centre for Excellence. We believe that long-acting reversible contraception, which in Australia is the contraceptive implant which goes in the arm, and the intrauterine device or IUD as it's commonly known which can come as either a hormone-based or a copper-based device.
We think that these are great choices for people to have if they're thinking about contraception, either starting it or changing it. And our greatest wish is that being able to access the visits for these services at no cost is going to make this a more affordable option, a more equitable and more accessible option for people who have been considering it or thinking about doing something about changing their contraception.
Long-acting reversible contraception, as the name suggests, can last between three to 10 years depending on the type that you choose. The return to your usual fertility is immediate, almost as soon as it's removed, and as the Minister stated, they're both over 99 per cent effective in use. And we look forward to taking care of women and people around New South Wales in our clinics, which are in five locations around including outreach.
And I'm now going to introduce one of our previous clients, Amali, who is going to talk a little bit about her experience here at Family Planning with her contraception.
AMALI, PATIENT: Hi. I'm Amali. I got a hormonal IUD about a year ago and it's been really good for me. And I came to Family Planning to get it put in.
JOURNALIST: Amali, tell us about your journey and how you came to choose the IUD.
AMALI: I came to choose the IUD because my previous contraception wasn't working how I wanted it to. And the doctors and nurses at Family Planning told me that IUD was a really good option.
JOURNALIST: What's been good about it for you?
AMALI: It's been really good because it stopped my migraines completely, which was the why I got it. And it's also really good for contraceptive reasons as well.
JOURNALIST: You talked earlier about worrying about forgetting. Do you want to go over that a little bit?
AMALI: Yeah. This contraception that I got is really good because it lasts for ages, and it's not like a pill where I would probably forget to take it.
JOURNALIST: What do your friends think?
AMALI: My friends think it's really great. I've recommended Family Planning and an IUD to everybody I know. So, they're really happy.
JOURNALIST: Were you nervous?
AMALI: I was so nervous because it's nerve-wracking getting that procedure and everything. But the doctors and nurses at Family Planning and other people I know completely reassured me that it would be totally fine.
JOURNALIST: What would you tell someone who's thinking about contraception? What would you say to them?
AMALI: I would tell them that there's so many options that you can choose from and that Family Planning is the safest place you can go if you want to feel reassured and that your options open to you.
JOURNALIST: We talked about the appointments now being at no cost. What do you think about that idea?
AMALI: I think that's really good because it gives more women choice to when they want to do it and how they want to do it and more access to it.