Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Women’s health

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (19:02): (792) My adjournment this evening is to the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to update my community on the next stages of the women’s pain inquiry. We had a significant women’s pain forum in the Mordialloc electorate to make sure those that have been impacted by a range of different conditions, be they pain or other ailments, and have long been restricted and impacted through a gendered lens were platformed and given the opportunity to share their lived and living experiences and be part of the Women’s Health in the South East report that will go forward as a submission, as well as their individual submissions. I want to give a big shout-out to Women’s Health in the South East – to Kitty McMahon, to Zoe Francis and the team – who do an outstanding job. We were joined by the Premier and the Minister for Health, and it was one of the best, if not the best, of the events I have been involved in. We were able to platform that and have women and girls in our community share their experiences of the barriers in health care and community outcomes in allied health that are systematic and that we need to be aware of.

We have seen big reforms as this Andrews–Allan Labor government has gotten underway. We have seen gender-responsive budgeting, we have seen investments in women’s health hubs, and I want to give a big shout-out to one of the best going around in this place, the Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health Kat Theophanous, who is an outstanding parliamentary secretary and has worked tirelessly in this space.

This forum that we had allowed people to share their views and experiences, but it was not just in the Mordialloc electorate. We saw 12,000-plus Victorian women and girls come forward in this inquiry. I find that a wonderful testament to how important this inquiry is and the huge amount of work that needs to be done. Of those that have bravely shared their stories and fronted up with their experience, some have lived a life of chronic pain and impact and have shared and detailed that. I want to say as well: pain and impact mean different things to different people. We heard people share about mental health and wellbeing, trauma and impact as well. We heard of a range of different ailments, diseases and chronic illnesses that were denied or impacted as well, all the way through to what we hear from women and girls in Victoria around endometriosis. There is a huge spectrum here.

All those submissions have come forward – 12,000 Victorian women and girls have shared their experiences, so my question to the Minister for Health is: what comes next? What are the next steps in this really important inquiry? The work that has been done, the countless forums that members of Parliament have hosted in their electorates – what are the next stages in this really important work to support woman and girls in our community?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I remind all members to use correct titles. That is a couple of times today.