Thursday, 8 February 2024

Women’s health

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (17:21): (516) My adjournment this evening is also to the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to engage with my community in the Kingston and Greater Dandenong areas on the upcoming women’s pain inquiry. This government has a significant record in investing and supporting women’s health. More than $150 million is being invested by this government, and that has been led by our fantastic Minister for Health and also the Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health, a portfolio allocation that is so critical. I know that the Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health does some outstanding work with the Victorian Women’s Health Advisory Council, leading some of that work on behalf of the minister in the rollout of that investment.

I know very well from my time as Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention that the greatest work that you can do is to listen to those with lived experience. It is probably no shock that this is an area – the women’s pain inquiry – where I will not have an understanding or lived experience. So as the member for Mordialloc and representing my community, I think it is important then to take this inquiry, its terms of reference and its engagement directly to the people I represent, and I thought that would be a great opportunity to welcome the Minister for Health out to the Kingston and Greater Dandenong areas and representatives in our community to understand how important this inquiry will be – the outcomes, the considerations and the time frames.

It is open for submissions now, and we encourage anyone in the Mordialloc electorate and indeed across Victoria to consider making a submission, sharing their lived experience and putting that forward, and we will definitely encourage people from this engagement and consultation as well. We welcome this very important announcement; it was such a landmark moment alongside the Premier, the Minister for Health and the Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health. Thank you for the work that you are doing on behalf of Victorian women. I am really looking forward to welcoming you to the communities of Kingston and Greater Dandenong and hearing directly from our stakeholders, who do so much great work in health promotion, advocacy, prevention and intervention, and also those with lived experience.