The current Australian Government has backed a motion for a Senate inquiry into the effects on menopause.
More specifically—yet also, broadly—the inquiry would encompass both perimenopause and menopause, in a bid to look at how those who menstruate are impacted by the biological stages of life.
People’s health and financial impacts would be under the spotlight, as well as the effects on the broader Australian economy.
“People experiencing physically and mentally debilitating menopause and perimenopause symptoms have for too long been forced to suffer in silence,” says Senator Larissa Waters, who is the Greens leader (the party that motioned this bid) in the Senate and the spokesperson for women.
This is fresh off the back of last week’s New South Wales’ Perimenopause and Menopause Toolkit launch. A free resource, which is designed to address the issues that women face by raising awareness in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
This toolkit is part of a $37.3 million, four-year campaign designed to support people experiencing severe symptoms of menopause.
“People experiencing physically and mentally debilitating menopause and perimenopause symptoms have for too long been forced to suffer in silence,” Senator Larissa Waters.
“Women are sick of being invisible and their health needs neglected. We need good policy to address the economic, social and health impacts of peri and menopause,” says Senator Larissa Waters, who will move to establish the inquiry next week.
The findings included in communications around the inquiry, published on Women’s Agenda, also painted a picture of the state of menopause’ effects on Australians and the nation. “Menopause costs female workers more than $17 billion each year in lost salary and superannuation and can cost Australian businesses more than $10 billion annually, according to the Macquarie Business School,” writes Olivia Cleal of Women’s Agenda.
“Around 32 per cent of women in Australia are currently experiencing symptoms they attribute to menopause, which severely affects day-to-day life for at least one quarter of Australian women aged between 45-64, according to data from Jean Hailes,” notes Women’s Agenda.
“Menopause costs female workers more than $17 billion each year in lost salary and superannuation.”
The inquiry is designed to pick up on the momentum that’s out there from various bodies: Australian unions campaigns, and boosting awareness by GPs and patients of the system, and making treatments more affordable.
It’s brilliant to see nations and governmental groups taking such immediate strides to make understanding—and action—for menopause.
Locally, last month’s World Menopause Day is when we launched a campaign and custom-commissioned report to make workplace menopausal conversations transparent in a step to better the world, and workplace, for everyone.
The inquiry is designed to pick up on the momentum that’s out there from various bodies: Australian unions campaigns, and boosting awareness by GPs and patients of the system, and making treatments more affordable.
The Silent Transition was born out of a collaboration between Global Women Partners ANZ and NZIER, to understand the impacts on working women. Just like the movements in Australia, we hope that our communities can move to a place where no-one is left behind based on biology’s inevitable.
We, like Australia’s Senator Waters hope this movement broadens the playing field for all. That, “similar to the family and domestic violence leave policy,” creates a baseline of equity.