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Women in the south east said their appointments were too short. A federal review has now put a number on why.
A federal review has found Medicare’s fee structure disadvantages women patients and women general practitioners, because both are more likely to use and to provide longer consultations. Women in Victoria’s Southern Metropolitan Region told a state inquiry the same thing two years ago. Women’s Health in the South East wants the final report to recommend that the rebate…
Medicare’s time problem is a women’s health problem, and two inquiries are now holding different parts of it
What has happened On 3 September 2026 the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Advisory Committee released the draft report of its Time-Tiered Working Group. The report finds that the fee structure pays a lower rate per minute for longer consultations, and that this disproportionately affects women general practitioners and women patients. Consultation closes on 15 October 2026 and the…
Berwick’s newest mural began as a Year 10 assignment. The model behind it is now open to every council.
A mural honouring Lady Maie Casey is unveiled in Berwick on Wednesday 9 September 2026, proposed by Year 10 students who audited who is remembered in their own suburbs and found the women missing. The Project Respect toolkit launches with it, setting out how any council and school can do the same. “Twenty-eight Year 10…
Misogyny is not a mystery. It is a mechanism, and a mechanism can be redesigned.
It is unfortunate that, with the evidence available and the expertise available, myths and misinformation about what prevents violence against women are still being distributed. Two Australian studies close the question. Women’s Health in the South East is asking that algorithmic recommendation be something a young person opts into rather than the setting they are…
Ending violence in a generation means funding the work that takes a generation
Australia is at the halfway mark of a ten-year national plan that set out to end gender-based violence in one generation. Primary prevention is the only part of that plan that works on a generational timeframe, and it is the part the Second Action Plan has not yet named. Women’s Health in the South East…
The Second Action Plan can fund what already works
Ten years of coordinated prevention practice across Melbourne’s south east has shown what stops violence before it starts. The Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022 to 2032, now being finalised, is the opportunity to put that practice to work nationally. Women’s Health in the South East…
Senate inquiry into women’s health must reach the women the system usually misses
Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE) warmly welcomes the Senate’s decision to establish a Select Committee on Women’s Health, and thanks Senator Marielle Smith for the advocacy and leadership that brought it about. The Committee, which Senator Smith will chair, was established on 19 August. Its terms of reference cover postpartum healthcare, women’s pain…
The Senate is asking women about their health. Here’s what WHISE is keen to share.
Some good news. On 19 August the Senate agreed to establish a Select Committee on Women’s Health, on a motion moved by Senator Marielle Smith, who will chair it. We want to start by thanking her. Committees like this do not appear by themselves. This one exists because a senator kept raising women’s health, year…
Women’s mental health cannot be separated from women’s physical health
One in two Australian women is experiencing a mental health issue and almost one in four is experiencing severe psychological distress, according to Beyond the Surface 2026, released by Women’s Mental Health Australia. The report draws on a nationally representative survey of 9,000 women. The report finds women’s mental health is shaped by the pressures…