MARIELLE SMITH, SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA: My name’s Marielle Smith. I’m a Labor Senator for South Australia. Last night, the Senate supported my motion which will establish a new Select Senate Committee into women’s health. I’ve been working on women’s health issues the entire time I’ve been in the parliament, from my very first speech through my committee work, I’ve been calling for greater support and greater investment in women’s health issues, and also for us to have national conversations which break down stigma and ensure that women’s voices can be heard.
This week I have shared my own story in the postpartum period. I’ve talked about the challenges I experienced with breastfeeding, the agonising pain I went through and how this led to postnatal anxiety. I’ve also talked about what a difference good help can make in this period. I had the amazing support of a lactation consultant, and with her was able to go on and feed my son for a year. But I’m very cognisant that not every woman is able to afford that kind of care, not every woman lives in a capital city near that kind of care. And good quality postpartum care should not ever be left to a matter of luck.
The committee that’s established will look into a range of women’s health issues, including postpartum care. We’ll also be exploring issues like fertility and women’s pain more broadly. There is much to do in the women’s health space to keep having these national conversations, to keep breaking down stigma, and to build on the incredible work our government has already done in women’s health.
We have invested some $800 million which has led to a step change in the way women’s health is funded and treated and prioritised in Australia, and I could not be more proud of those investments. But we are ambitious for women, we are ambitious for women’s health. We want to make sure that women have an opportunity to have their voices heard. We want to be part of breaking down the stigma that surrounds women’s health issues. And through my role in this committee, I hope that we can shine a national spotlight on women’s health, especially in the postpartum period. I hope that we can contribute to breaking down stigma, and I hope that women’s voices can be heard. Thank you.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: Thank you so much, Marielle. I’m Rebecca White, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and I have responsibility for women's health in the Albanese Labor Government. I just want to say thank you so much to Senator Smith for her leadership and her vulnerability in sharing her personal story that I'm sure connects with so many Australian women and has been a real driver for the establishment of this inquiry. I thank the Senate for their support because what it will enable us to do is to hear the voices of Australian women and their experiences of conception, their challenges with fertility, their pregnancy and then of course the post-pregnancy care. And what they felt was the challenge, and where we can make improvements.
We also through this inquiry want to hear from women about their experiences with pregnancy loss, and how our government can better support them in some of these most traumatic times. There are also challenges for many Australian women in falling pregnant and this inquiry will give them an opportunity to share their stories and tell us how we can improve their access to care. Whether that be cost, or whether that be because of where they live.
We have done a significant amount of work when it comes to investing in women's healthcare here in Australia. I'm very proud to be part of a government that takes women's health so seriously, and it gives an opportunity for women to share their voices and for us to be able to destigmatise so many of the issues that are completely normal for Australian women. Whether it is contraception, whether it is perimenopause and menopause, whether it is access to services for endometriosis and pelvic pain, we have worked diligently across the Parliament to make sure that we can deliver greater services. And as part of a government, I'm very proud of our investment that we've been able to deliver on today, but we know the work is not done. This inquiry will give us greater evidence about where some of the gaps still remain across the community for women's health in Australia, and I look forward to seeing the outcome so we can support more women's access to healthcare that they need.
EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION: I want to start by recognising Senator Smith and her advocacy and her vulnerability in sharing her personal story. We know through lived experience that it breaks down stigma, it encourages other people to speak up. And that's what this inquiry will do. It will give women across the country the chance to be able to share their story, to be properly heard and to feed into greater reform of the Albanese Labor Government.
I just want to touch on my particular responsibilities for mental health and particularly perinatal mental health. And Marielle has bravely spoken about her own experience of anxiety in the postpartum period. We know that in Australia today about one in five new or expectant women experience perinatal depression and anxiety. That's about 100,000 Australian families each year that are impacted by it, which is why our government is investing in expanding screening to detect perinatal depression and anxiety, and also in a new national network of perinatal mental health centres where people can receive support from specialist psychologists for free backed by Medicare.
This is a start, but as Marielle said, there is much more work to do to understand women's experiences. For women living outside of our major cities, and with my responsibilities for regional and remote health, I've seen the struggle that women have had. They've had long wait times, large out-of-pocket costs, all of these barriers which have affected them being able to access care, and timely care close to home when they need it.
So, I want to finish by recognising Marielle’s advocacy, the work that this inquiry will do, and the real change that it will lead to in the lives of women and families right across Australia. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: What are some of the first issues that the inquiry is going to look at?
SMITH: Look, the committee will have other members appointed today, I expect, so until they're appointed, it's a bit hard for me to talk about their priorities as well. I've been very clear this week in coming out and sharing my story in the postpartum period. I think, over the last couple of days, I've heard from thousands of women around Australia who've also shared their personal story with me in this period. I think it's very, very difficult for women to tell their experience in the postpartum period and it's very important that they're heard, so that will certainly be a priority of mine as this work goes forward. But we know when it comes to women's health, there are a range of issues where stigma has stopped women receiving the priority and the investment and the kind of care that they deserve.
Whether it's in fertility, whether it's in the way that women's pain is treated and handled, there are a lot of issues in the women's health space and I think this committee will be very busy. I'm really looking forward to learning who else will be appointed to it and working with them and I'm just very grateful to have the Senate's support last night in getting this committee off the ground.
JOURNALIST: What are some of the gaps that you see already amongst [inaudible]…
SMITH: I think a lot of women in the postpartum period in particular are really struggling silently and for a range of reasons. Now in this time of life, it is the most amazing and miraculous moment in your life. When you come home from hospital and you have your baby in your arms it is the most beautiful and precious thing. But it can also be really, really difficult. And there can be senses of failure or shame when things don't work out the way you thought they might work out and that can stop women reaching out for help. We also know that some women think, well, you know, this is really hard, but maybe it's not hard enough to warrant extra help. So they feel uncomfortable asking. And we also know for women that while there might be some great supports out there and great supports from GPs, even leaving the house in the first six weeks can be really, really tough.
So one of the things I want to ask women as we go through this process is, how could we have reached you during this time, what would have actually helped to get you the care that you need. But we also know right across spectrum of women's health issues, we see things like women's pain, dismissed and minimised. We know often when women seek out support, they don't get the kind of care that they deserve.
We've done a lot, especially around perimenopause and menopause, to make sure that we're better training GPs, we're giving women access to longer appointments with their GPs. We're running a national education campaign to help break down some of that stigma. But across the spectrum of women's health issues, there is more to do.
JOURNALIST: Can you envisage any kind of legislative changes or support changes that will address that postpartum support?
SMITH: I think it's too early to do that. I've shared my story this week. I'm very cognisant that that's one of thousands of stories that we need to hear. I'm hoping that with the other members of this committee's support, we'll be able to travel around Australia and hear women's voices. I want to know from them, what would have helped them if they found themselves in a dark time of their lives. What would have made a difference? It's their voices which this committee is about spotlighting. And then at that point, we'll start to look at policy solutions.
JOURNALIST: You’ve mentioned breaking the stigma as a major point of this inquiry, do you think that there is a reform part of that or is that really going to only come through talking about this through the inquiry?
SMITH: I think one of the really powerful things the Senate can do is shine a national spotlight on an issue. We did that with the menopause and perimenopause inquiry, and the Senate's done it on a range of other issues, including the very important issue of stillbirths, too. We know that when we use our national spotlight, when we elevate women's voices and use our positions to elevate their experiences, we spark a national conversation, we build momentum. And that has led to change.
I'm really hopeful that this process will do exactly that. I want to elevate women's experiences. I want them to feel safe in sharing their stories. I want them to feel courageous in telling us what would have helped. I found it very difficult to share my story this week. But the reason I did it is because I'm asking other women to share theirs and I think it's only fair that I share mine too.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident that you'll get support across the Parliament in making changes once the inquiry is done? I know it hasn’t started, but looking at the way that previous inquiries we had gambling this week, did have bipartisan support [inaudible]… for three years. Are you confident that there is, I guess, the motivation from other parties to make change?
SMITH: Well, I have a track record with my committee work of working with other Senators across the Parliament to deliver reports which are meaningful and reports have an impact. I'm really delighted that other senators came and supported me last night. I didn't hear a single no as the motion was put to the floor. We've worked together and built consensus and as a result, we've expanded my motion to have a broader inquiry. I think that's a wonderful thing and I think it bodes really well for how this committee can work together going forward.
WHITE: Thank you. Thanks, everybody.
SMITH: Thank you.