Reproductive health
Good reproductive health allows women and men to decide if and when to have children. It can be affected by some diseases, access to contraceptives and fertility issues. Find out what we’re doing to improve reproductive health services in Australia.
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Reproductive health in Australia
Reproductive health includes the ability to have a child when you choose to. Many things can affect this, including:
- knowing where to get contraceptives and how to use them
- cancers that affect the reproductive system, such as cervical, ovarian, breast, prostate and testicular cancers
- fertility problems
- endometriosis
- sexually transmitted diseases.
Fertility problems affect around 1 in 6 Australian couples. The number of couples that need fertility treatments to become pregnant is increasing.
What we’re doing about reproductive health
We contribute to strategies about reproductive health issues, including:
- National Women’s Health Strategy 2020–2030
- National Men’s Health Strategy 2020–2030
- National Strategic Approach for Maternity Services.
Our other work that relates to reproductive health includes:
- our national action plan for endometriosis to improve awareness, understanding and treatment of endometriosis
- cervical cancer screening and breast cancer screening programs
- Medicare support for fertility treatments such as IVF and access to contraceptive options.
Key policies
National Women’s Health Strategy: 2020–2030
This strategy aims to improve the health and wellbeing of all women and girls in Australia. One of the priority areas is maternal, sexual and reproductive health.
Initiatives and programs
National cervical screening program
Cervical cancer is preventable and affects women’s reproductive health. Routine cervical screening is your best protection against cervical cancer.