CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH POLICY
WESTMEAD HOSPITAL 20 APRIL 1989
We are making history today as we launch Australia's first
national women's health policy.
Australia is one of the very few countries in the world to
have determined to find out, and then to address, the
special health needs and priorities of women.
And we could hardly be celebrating this launch at a more
appropriate venue than Westmead Hospital, which itself
represents the response of a previous Labor Government to
the health needs of women.
From the day it first opened its doors, Westmead has shown a
special understanding of, and dedication to meeting, the
health needs of women.
I take this opportunity to recognise the achievements of
Dr Jenny Alexander, Westmead's General Superintendent, and
Carla Cranny, the Director of Health Services Development
for the Western Sydney Area Health Service.
What Westmead Hospital is achieving in this regard is what
the National Women's Health Policy is all about providing
an imaginative, sensitive and flexible approach to the
health concerns of the Australian community.
Women's health is a central plank of the National Agenda for
Women, which is my Government's blueprint for the
improvement of the status of Australian women towards the
Year 2000.
Clearly, the good health and well being of women has to be
assured before any credible claim can be made about the
attainment by women of full and equal participation in
Australian life.
It is also clear to us that if we were to produce a credible
and practical women's health policy, it must be based upon
views obtained from as many Australian women as possible.
The National Women's Health Policy reflects in a unique way
the views and priorities of more than one million Australian
women who were consulted around the country the young and
the elderly, those who live in the cities and those who live
in the country, women in the paid workforce and women at
home. Because it is based on such an extensive round of
consultation, we can be pretty sure that the Policy indeed
reflects the concerns of Australian women about health.
In particular, Australian women told us they were concerned
about seven major issues. They are:
reproductive health and sexuality;
the health of ageing women;
women's emotional and mental health;
violence against women;
occupational health and safety;
the health needs of women as carers; and
the health effects of sex role stereotyping.
To meet these concerns and to improve women's health, the
policy nominates these five key areas where action is seen
as necessary: improvements in health services for women;
provision of health information for women;
research and collection of data on women's health;
training of health care providers; and
women's participation in decision-making on health.
Whether the women consulted in the development of the policy
were in the country or the city, whether they were raising
families or living alone in retirement, whether they were
from affluent or struggling areas of Australia, there was a
remarkable consensus on the key issues of concern.
Not surprisingly, the overriding concern expressed was that
the health system should be more sensitive to the needs of
women. Women want doctors and other health care providers to listen
to them and to treat them with dignity and respect as
people, and not just as female patients.
Women want better access to the variety of general and
specialist services they need through their lives, and they
want more women to be trained to deliver those services.
Women want better information on health and lifestyle issues
and they want it to be easier to understand so that they can
make more informed choices about their own health care and
take more responsibility for maintaining their own health.
These expressed concerns of women are eminently reasonable
and they form the basis of this policy.
Now that we have gathered these views and come to understand
more clearly the health needs of the Australian women, what
happens next?
Does this report just sit in a file somewhere and gather
dust? I give you my commitment that will not occur.
State Health Ministers, including the NSW Minister Peter
Collins, have endorsed this report in principle and their
Governments will be considering its recommendations.
I take this opportunity to thank Peter Collins for his
strong support of the policy.
At the Federal level, Neal Blewett will be bringing a
submission to Federal Cabinet on this report.
It is not possible of course to determine in advance just
what Federal Cabinet will conclude.
But I do give this commitment: we will give this report
very close and very sympathetic attention.
And I believe that our record of achievement on behalf of
Australian women does indeed show that we are sympathetic to
the needs of women in this regard.
Let me summarise briefly for you some of those achievements.
First among them was the introduction of Medicare.
Medicare enfranchised two million Australians who were
previously without health cover. Women, as the main users
of health services and as those who assume the greatest
responsibility for health care of the whole family, were the
main beneficiaries of this reform.
Medicare gives genuine meaning to equality of access in
health delivery services, so it was an essential
prerequisite to meeting the specific health concerns of
women.
At the same time, we set about other social reforms which we
viewed as beneficial to the well being of women. These
include removal of barriers to women's workforce
participation; programs to assist entry and re-entry to the
job market; and affirmative action legislation.
We have created more than 1.3 million jobs since 1983 and
almost 60 per cent of them have gone to women.
We introduced the Family Allowance Supplement to provide
valuable assistance for low income families with children.
We established the Child Support Agency to ensure that
non-custodial parents take appropriate financial
responsibility for their children.
The Government has directly funded an increase of 64,000
child care places since April 1983 and a further 30,000
places will be created by 1992.
April has been a significant month for Australian women,
taking them several steps further towards realisation of the
goals of the National Agenda for women.
Given that the Women's Health Policy identified violence
against women as a major concern, it is appropriate that
April is Domestic violence Awareness Month. This is part of
our nationwide campaign to raise public awareness of this
widespread and all-too-often hidden problem.
And of course last week, with the April Statement, the
Government announced the wages-tax-family package which will
continue to build upon these achievements. This package
includes: tax cuts which will, particularly through the reduction
in the lowest rates, benefit women workers;
dramatic increases in Family Allowance payments;
additional payments for families in receipt of the
Family Allowance Supplement; and
further assistance for one income families, including
sole parents.
I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the
preparation of the National Women's Health Policy not
least the women who provided the comments and views on which
this report is based.
As the State and Federal Ministers have shown, there is
considerable bipartisan agreement to put the protection and
promotion of the health and well being of Australian women
on a sure basis.
This approach acknowledges that implementation of policies
and programs designed to improve women's health, well being
and life opportunities must be one of Australia's major
goals in the closing years of the twentieth century
So I have much pleasure now in launching the National
Women's Health Policy a blueprint for fostering the better
health of Australian women and the greater well being of all
Australians.