National Women’s Health Strategy

The National Women’s Health Strategy was launched in April 2018.
The five priority areas for the National Women’s Health Strategy are:
Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive Health; Healthy Ageing; Chronic Conditions and Preventive Health; Mental Health and Health Impacts of Violence against Women and Girls.

The Government made a $52.3 million funding commitment to underpin the strategy, largely distributed across ovarian cancer and endometriosis research and treatments, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service for Aboriginal women and health promotions. Only $7million is committed for Family Planning services, along with ante-natal and pre-natal services and health promotions.

Much of the Strategy remains unfunded in the short and longer term, with no announced implementation and linked funding plans.

Sections of the current Strategy omit or underplay important recent research, including:

• the impacts of sexual assault and harassment on women’s health;

• the contribution of the cultural silencing of women’s experiences of menstruation and

  menopause to low confidence and other poor health outcomes;

• reproductive coercion as a factor in women’s reproductive decisions;

• the impacts of Australia’s patchwork systems of abortion laws and regulations on termination

  services;

• the need for impartial and easily accessible information on contraception and reproductive

  health options;

• limited and inadequate GP and pharmacist training restricting availability of contraceptive and

  termination services; the prohibitive cost of terminations; the cost of contraceptives and the

  prohibitive cost of terminations, especially in rural and regional Australia; and

• the critical role of access to crisis and long-term housing for women suffering family violence

  and elder abuse.

Australian Women’s Health Network

The current Government withdrew funding from the Australian Women’s Health Network in 2016.

Since its establishment in 2009, the network has played a vital role in working with women’s medical and health services to identify emerging issues and research areas in women’s health. Development of a new National Women’s Health Policy and revised Strategy and Implementation Plan will require expert support through the peak women’s health organisations represented through the Network and should be based on the Network’s Australian Women’s Health Charter.

Maintain and extend family planning and reproductive health programs in Australia’s international aid program and our commitment to international treaties and agreements supporting women’s equality and reproductive rights.

Providing services to women in developing countries is a “key plank” for tackling both gender equality and poverty in the world. Australia has recently reiterated strong endorsement of the outcome statement for the 52n UN Commission on Population and Development, stating that ‘Australia remains strongly committed to advancing universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health and rights as a vital cornerstone of achieving broader sustainable, inclusive development.

On the other hand our international representatives recently refused to endorse an International Women’s Day statement at the United Nations, which called for access to safe abortions, comprehensive sexuality education and sexual reproductive health.

Australia's foreign aid funding for reproductive, maternal and sexual health has halved from $46 million to $23 million since 2012.

Cuts to family planning services take away the power women and girls have to decide when and how many children they give birth to. It will restrict their access to crucial maternal services.