On Sunday, 9 November, Premier Jacinta Allan, together with Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas, and our Local MP’s, visited Northern Health to mark the release of the Bridging the Gender Pain Gap report – a significant milestone in improving how women’s pain is recognised and treated across the state.

This report highlights the need to acknowledge, believe, and respond to women’s pain, across all healthcare settings – from general practice to emergency departments and specialist clinics. Pain, whether acute or persistent, pelvic, chest, or migraine, disproportionately impacts women, and too often it is dismissed.

The report, which was shaped by the experiences of 13,000 women and girls aged between 12 and 79, as well as their carers, clinicians and peak bodies, revealed gender health gaps, experiences of medical bias, sexism and misogyny and feelings of being ignored or dismissed by clinicians.

“It’s time we stop hearing that our pain doesn’t exist. These tangible steps will improve the lives of women and girls everywhere. The RCH clinic is going to be life changing – because when young girls face delays in diagnosis and treatment, it can affect them permanently,” said Premier Jacinta Allan.

“I want to thank the 13,000 Victorian women who’ve made this possible, it’s because of you that we’ll be able to create generational change to our health system,” said Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas.

Northern Health has a Persistent Pelvic Pain Service, a multidisciplinary service incorporating gynaecologists, clinical nurse consultants, physiotherapists, psychologists, dietitians and pain specialists.

Located within the Northern Health Women’s Health Hub at 230 Cooper Street, Epping, the service was established under the Department of Health Women’s Health Clinics funding model with the aim of providing holistic, integrated, comprehensive care to women and gender diverse people with persistent pelvic pain. The team work together to provide evidence-based treatment with a focus on functional goals and to give patients the tools they need to stop their pain interfering with their lives.

“Previously, our ability to manage these patients at Northern Health was limited by lack of funding and disjointed services. The establishment of the Persistent Pelvic Pain Service has streamlined care, ensuring we can help more patients and improved patient outcomes,” said Claire Schofield, Pelvic Health Physiotherapist.

Jade Seddon, Clinical Nurse Consultant, said the service brought together a number of experienced pain clinicians to provide truly integrated care.

“By addressing the physical, emotional, and social factors influencing pain, we help patients move from surviving their pain to living well alongside it,” said Jade Seddon, Clinical Nurse Consultant.

Dr Josephine Vivian-Taylor, Head of Gynaecology, Northern Health, said when we acknowledge and believe women’s pain, we make a commitment to understand and change it.

“I have seen women’s pain dismissed for years, even when it impacts work, study, and daily life. This report is an important step towards changing how we treat women in pain. We as healthcare providers need to change the way we treat women in pain. I welcome this report and its recommendations as a step forward in the way we part of this change,” she said.

“As clinicians, when we believe and acknowledge women’s pain, we go looking for the cause or contributing factors, we initiate management. We commit to educating ourselves better to understand women’s pain, it’s presentations and management through a biopsychosocial lens. And more importantly, we make women feel safe that their healthcare needs will be met.”

To read the Bridging the Gender Pain Gap report, please visit health.vic.gov.au/inquiry-into-womens-pain.