Media release from Minister Kearnery, Department of Health and Aged Care: 31 January 2023
Members of the new National Women’s Health Advisory Council have been appointed, bringing together diverse expertise to examine the unique challenges that women and girls experience in the health system.
Growing evidence has shown that systemic issues in healthcare delivery and medical research mean women often suffer poorer health outcomes. Women disproportionately experience delayed diagnosis, overprescribing, and a failure to properly investigate symptoms.
Chaired by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney, the National Women’s Health Advisory Council will bring together leaders and experts from women’s health organisations, consumer groups and peak bodies.
The Council will also conduct ongoing community consultation and consider input from those with lived experience to better understand the barriers and bias women face.
The Council’s first meeting will outline initial priority areas and is scheduled for 20 February 2023.
The Council will consider:
- health equity in healthcare and services
- health literacy for women in priority populations
- strengthening and diversifying medical research
- health workforce training and education
The Council will also focus on a range of key concerns, such as menopause, cancer care, reproductive healthcare, causes of pelvic pain and cardiovascular disease. The Council will aim to promote better health outcomes for women and girls, and ensure their care is better tailored to their needs.
A panel of special advisers will contribute topic specific knowledge and relevant research from their areas of expertise to support the Council.
QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE TO ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE GED KEARNEY MP
“Since announcing the Council last year, I have heard an outpouring from women young and old, no matter their background, who all have a story to tell.”
“Woman have told me they’re being seen but not believed. They seek help for crippling pelvic pain as teenagers but suffer into adulthood from raging endometriosis. They have symptoms dismissed for weeks, only to have a stroke from a brain aneurysm.”
“The bias against women in the health system is deeply entrenched. We are now bringing together experts to begin to peel back the layers so we can chart a different course.”
| Name | Organisation |
| Professor Gita Mishra Co-Director |
Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) |
| Ms Lorna Scott Member |
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation |
| Dr Danielle McMullen Vice President |
Australian Medical Association |
| Ms Bonney Corbin Executive Chair |
Australian Women’s Health Network |
| Dr Elizabeth Deveny CEO |
Consumer Health Forum |
| Dr Sarah L. White CEO |
Jean Hailes for Women’s Health |
| Dr Adele Murdolo Executive Director |
Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health |
| Ms Donnella Mills Chair |
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) |
| Ms Keli McDonald CEO |
National Rural Women’s Coalition |
| Dr Benjamin Bopp President |
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) |
| Dr Sue Matthews CEO |
Royal Women’s Hospital |
| Professor Robyn Norton AO Principal Director |
The George Institute for Global Health |
| Associate Professor Cathy Vaughan Unit Head, Gender and Women’s Health Unit |
University of Melbourne, Centre for Health Equity (WHO Collaborating Centre on Women’s Health) |
| Professor Deb Loxton Chair Co-Director (ALSWH) |
Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network ALSWH |
| Ms Carolyn Frohmader Executive Director |
Women with Disabilities Australia |
| Professor Zoe Wainer Honorary Enterprise Professor |
University of Melbourne |
| Name | Organisation |
| Ms Bronwyn Morris-Donovan CEO |
Allied Health Professions Australia |
| Ms Helen White CEO |
Australian College of Midwives |
| Ms Padma Raman PSM CEO |
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) |
| Associate Professor Aliza Werner Seidler | Black Dog Institute |
| Ms Katherine Isbister CEO CRANAplus |
Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia (CRANA) |
| Ms Nyadol Nyuon OAM Chair |
Harmony Alliance |
| Professor Cath Chamberlain Head |
Indigenous Health Equity Unit, University of Melbourne |
| Ms Nicky Bath CEO |
LGBTI Health Australia |
| Ms Shannon Calvert Consumer Co-Chair |
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum |
| Professor Susan Davis Director |
Monash University Women’s Health Research Program |
| Professor Angela Dawson Associate Dean Research, University of Technology Sydney |
Public Health Association of Australia |
| Ms Nadia Levin CEO |
Research Australia |
| Dr Nicole Higgins President |
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners |
| Professor Danielle Mazza Director |
SPHERE NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care |
Read the original media release here: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-ged-kearney-mp/media/womens-health-experts-appointed-to-tackle-medical-misogyny?language=en