Tuesday, 28 October 2025

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:25): I rise to speak about the outstanding work of Women’s Health East, an organisation doing vital work across Melbourne’s north-east and one I am very proud to support. Women’s Health East has been a fierce advocate for women’s health and equality. Whether it has been pushing for safer, fairer workplaces, improving access to reproductive health care or tackling the root cause of gendered violence, they have never shied away from the hard conversations and they have never stopped fighting for change. I want to acknowledge their submission to the Victorian inquiry into women’s pain. For too long women have had their pain dismissed, whether it is endometriosis, pelvic pain, migraines or other conditions that have gone untreated or ignored. Women’s Health East called it out for what it is, and that is medical misogyny. They have made it clear we need systems designed by women, for women, with lived experience at the centre. Their recommendations are practical, powerful and necessary, and they have called for services that are accessible to all women, because no-one should be left to suffer in silence.

I want to recognise the leadership of Elly Taylor, who served as CEO for four years and helped grow the organisation’s reach and impact. Elly’s commitment to Women’s Health East and the values they stand for has been nothing short of inspiring. I would also like to thank Fiona Sharkie for stepping in during Elly’s absence and leading the organisation with such strength and care and to warmly welcome the new interim CEO Kate Phillips, who has big shoes to fill but I know will carry the torch with the same passion and purpose as her predecessors. Women’s Health East is a brilliant example of what community-led advocacy looks like, and I thank them for the important work that they do and their continued advocacy for women in the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region.