Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Northern Health

Report 2023–24

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:12): I rise to speak on the Northern Health annual report 2023–24. When we speak of annual reports in this place I think sometimes what is easy to lose focus on is that while annual reports for health services talk about numbers, how many patients were seen and how many services were delivered, behind those numbers the meaning is that people are connected to those numbers and every figure is a person and a member of a family or a community. The kind of health system we are building under the Allan Labor government is reflected in these reports.

Recently I had the privilege of visiting the Northern Hospital, which is one of the busiest hospitals in Victoria. It lies just outside the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region but services communities across the western parts of my region. Northern Health serves one of the most diverse and rapidly growing populations in Victoria. The Northern Health annual report demonstrates something all of us in this place should be proud of, which is a health service evolving with its community, putting equity, inclusion and dignity at the centre of care. I know the staff are very proud of those issues. They place them at the forefront of the way and the model in which they deliver care.

Women make up just over half the population – that should come as no surprise to anyone in this place – but for too long their health needs were treated as niche or secondary, and the Allan Labor government knows that it is not good enough for that to occur. Consequently the Northern Hospital is showing what it means in terms of what meaningful change can look like. During the period of the report that I am speaking about now Northern Health oversaw the establishment of a dedicated women’s health hub, an innovative integrated model of care which deals with diverse and broad-ranging issues from contraception to menopause, from prolapse to pelvic pain. The hub recognises that women’s health is complex and interconnected, and it prioritises access, respect and outcomes. Therefore no woman, at whatever stage of life, should fall through any cracks of any system. Importantly, what the report also highlights is the expansion of abortion services, because access to reproductive health is not a luxury, it is a right. Through community-based hubs and hospital-based clinics, Northern Health is making sure that reproductive care is local, timely and compassionate, and this is what health equity looks like in action.

Over the past 6½ years I have been an ongoing advocate for an improvement to abortion access. In an ideal world medical and surgical abortions would not be needed, people could enjoy safe sex, not be sexually assaulted or have medical complications or conditions that make it unsafe to have a child and of course be able to have children if they want to have them when they are ready. However, we all know that this is not always the case, and therefore access to easily accessible, safe and timely abortions is a right that any person with female reproductive organs should have.

An example of this concern in terms of equity of access was recently highlighted when I was looking into the rates of child and teen pregnancy across Victoria. What we see is that births per thousand across the 13- to 18-year-old cohort rests at about 4.2 live births per thousand, but in some of the western parts of our state it is as high as 29 live births per 1000. What this demonstrates is there is an inequity of access across parts of Victoria and especially in the north-west of Victoria.

If an individual wants to give birth to a child, they should be supported in that decision, whether that is supporting them to complete their schooling and become a parent or further down the track when they are ready to enrol their child in kindergarten services. However, if they do or are not ready to have a child for whatever reason, they should be able to access appropriate abortion care locally in their communities when they need it. This is something that the Allan Labor government is aware of and continues to work on. On the flip side of this argument, it is also about recognising that people who might struggle to have children should be supported, and that highlights the full implementation of Northern Health’s fertility services. That means women in the north will now have access to specialist consultations, ultrasounds, medication and cycle management – again, closer to home and grounded in best practice.

I also want to acknowledge the work of the Narrun Wilip-giin Aboriginal support unit. Their work in promoting cultural safety, reconciliation and self-determination remains central to Northern Health’s mission and the Allan Labor government’s commitment to First Nations health equity.

In conclusion, the report is not just about services delivered but about the values and the lives of the people who live behind them, when care is not just provided but provided with dignity and when access is not just promised but delivered. I want to thank Northern Health for all the work that they do, and I commend this report to the Council.