Ms KEARNEY (Cooper—Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) (09:15): This week is Women's Health Week in Australia. It's an annual event run by Jean Hailes for women's health and is very proudly supported by the Australian government. The health and wellbeing of women and girls is something I am incredibly passionate about. As a nurse for 20 years, as a woman myself, as a grandmother and now as an Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, I have seen firsthand the difficulties women face in getting the health care that they need. From being misdiagnosed or diagnosed too late and from being over-medicated or having their symptoms dismissed to a lack of research and education around women's health issues, research shows that this inherent bias leads to significant disadvantages for women compared to men. It's rarely intentional, but it is real, and many women are suffering as a result. One of them was my own cousin, Resa. She went to an emergency department with numbness and tingling from her waist down. She was alarmed enough and distressed enough to present to an ED, but doctors completely dismissed her symptoms. They gave her Panadol, sent her home and told her to contact a GP later. My cousin died later that night from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. She was only 60 years old. I can't help but wonder: if she were a man of 60 years old in a suit and tie and presented with the same symptoms, would he have been treated in the same way? There are countless other shocking stories. Another was recently shared with me. A woman in her 70s asked her GP why she was feeling abdominal pain during sexual intercourse. The doctor told her it was her age. A few days later, she was in emergency with a ruptured appendix. Would a man have had the same experience? I think not. Another woman who has bravely shared her story was diagnosed at the age of 50 with lipoedema, a progressive disease which almost exclusively affects women. Lipoedema causes the body to create excess lipoedema fat, which can only be removed surgically via liposuction. This woman was self-conscious about the unusual fat on her body from an early age and, at 14, understandably developed an eating disorder. Years later, she went to the doctor about the painful lumps all over her body. She was told to eat less and exercise more, even though her food intake was already very dangerously low. She was not listened to or believed. She was actually blamed. She was blamed for her problem for many years until finally, after decades of suffering, she received a correct diagnosis that changed her life. We are fortunate to have a world-class health system in this country, supported by so many wonderful nurses and doctors and other professionals. But it needs a reboot when it comes to addressing women's and girls' health issues. I'm pleased to say that the Albanese Labor government has commenced that reboot. At the same time as having made historic investments in the health system as a whole, our government has also invested more than $65 million in targeted support for the health and wellbeing of Australian women, girls and gender-diverse people. Australia's first endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics are opening across all states and territories. We had already increased our election commitment of 16 to establish 20, and just last week, I'm proud to say, we announced a further expansion, bringing the total to 22 clinics nationally. The council will provide recommendations to address complex systemic bias against women. For the council's first year we are focused on four priority areas: research; access, care and outcomes; empowerment; and safety. You may wonder why safety is an issue. The safety subcommittee of the council will consider the cultural, social and physical safety of health care for women and how the healthcare system can play a stronger role in supporting, promoting and protecting women. The Labor government's 10-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children released in October 2022 invests $48.7 million to help GPs and other primary care providers to better identify early signs of family, domestic and sexual violence and child sexual abuse, and to help them take action. The importance of a health system that takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach was demonstrated recently in a family and domestic violence pilot program in Melbourne. A patient presented extremely agitated and distressed, waiting for a referral for a psychologist and to discuss some medications for anxiety. On further questioning, she disclosed her partner was physically abusive and suffered from severe alcohol abuse. She had reported the physical abuse to police and was safe and had family support, but her mental health was still suffering. Through the program, she was referred to a psychologist and to an alcohol and other drug support counsellor as an affected family member. The GP was also contacted and able to help her partner. As a result, the patient is safe from abuse, she feels supported and her anxiety is under control. Cultural safety is also vital. So many women and girls experience cultural or language barriers, particularly when it comes to mental and sexual health. Ensuring Australians receive the care and support they need regardless of class, race or cultural background is a high priority of this Labor government—of all Labor governments. This year's Women's Health Week theme is 'Grow your Knowledge'. It's all about supporting women to make informed decisions about their health with information that's easy to understand. This starts with language, and language leads to empowerment. The government is providing funding to the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health to work with partner organisations to recruit, train and coordinate a team of more than 40 bicultural health educators speaking more than 20 languages. These health educators reach people of all ages from culturally and linguistically diverse communities across Australia to deliver health information in various languages. As I visit clinics around the country, I can see firsthand how important and how powerful it is when people get addressed in their mother tongue. It unlocks the world for them. Whatever their language or circumstances, every woman and every girl deserves to be heard when it comes to their health. That's why my National Women's Health Advisory Council is undertaking an Australia-wide community consultation survey to end gender bias. We especially want to hear from First Nations women, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, individuals with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, women from rural and regional and remote communities and women with a disability. The consultation portal can be submitted to in 17 different languages. It can be done anonymously, it can be done online through text and it can be done through video or audio recordings up until 13 October. Anyone can take part, including patients, health providers, researchers and other stakeholders. We've already received over 1,500 submissions. To any woman listening—to anyone listening to this right now: I want to hear your story. Please tell us your story. I promise we will use this information to make the right policy decisions to improve the health experience and health outcomes of women in this country. Every woman who takes part will grow our knowledge of how the health system treats them and help us to improve it. When it comes to women's health, the challenges facing us are not easy. Changing attitudes, changing the way things have always been done is never easy, but now is the time to do it. We must break down the barriers and we must have this important conversation. We owe it to people like my cousin Resa. We owe it to the hundreds of women who have already come forward with their stories and the countless others who continue to suffer in silence. When it comes to the health of women and girls, I can feel the momentum building, the enthusiasm, the drive, the determination. I want to thank the advocates and organisations and experts who work tirelessly to better the health system. Let's keep working together to improve women's health and never stop growing our knowledge.