JOURNALIST: Asking for a friend, but if you don't know what a long-acting reversible contraception technically is, I mean, explain it, I guess.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: Women have choice for contraception across the country. I think very few women properly understand what a long-acting reversible contraception is, and it’s an IUD or an Implanon. So, it's a device that you can have inserted and it lasts for many years, in some cases up to eight years. It's a really effective form of contraception, it's also long-lasting and that makes it a really affordable option for many women. And now, through our Centres of Excellence, we're offering this as a bulk billed service to make sure that women can access the healthcare that they need free of charge.
JOURNALIST: Excellent. So, you're investing quite a bit across the country. Explain where the 25.6 million is going to go.
WHITE: Through our Women's Health Package, which was a landmark investment by the Albanese Labor Government last year, we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in women's health, including $25.6 million to establish Centres of Excellence for LARCs. So this will include training for health professionals, as well as a place for women to present, to get good information and to have their IUD inserted or removed. These will be located in every state and territory in the country. And we've partnered with our Primary Health Network to be able to commission these services, so stand them up in locations that are accessible for women.
Alongside the work that these will do in each location, there will be outreach to regional and rural centres as well so that women, no matter where they are in the country, can get good information about long-acting contraceptives, but also access to a health professional who can help them with insertion and removal and any other questions they may have.
JOURNALIST: What have been some of the access challenges in the past that you're looking to try and address this investment?
WHITE: Well, this investment has been guided by a lot of feedback from Australian women who told us that cost was a major barrier. In some cases, it costs about $400 to have an IUD inserted, which was out of reach for a lot of Australian women. Last year, the Australian Government changed the Medicare rebate for this item, and now through this investment many thousands of women are getting this service fully bulk billed, so no out of pocket costs at all.
Across the country, since 1 November last year, 55,000 Australian women have had an IUD inserted, fully bulk billed. Here in Tasmania, it's just over 2000 women have had this service provided free of charge. And now through this investment, through the Centres of Excellence, we're hoping to expand that even further. Because contraception options for women are quite broad now through our additional listings on the PBS, and of course changes to the Medicare rebate for IUDs. So we want women to not only have choice but to have access that is affordable and, where possible, completely free.
JOURNALIST: In the past, has it created a bit of a two-tier system where women with disposable income can afford this sort of thing, but other women may miss out? And then obviously, the potential ramifications of that are significant as well.
WHITE: The evidence tells us that here in Australia, the uptake for women of long-acting contraception is much lower than other equivalent countries, and that's due to a couple of things. It is lack of information and understanding, lack of confidence with having a conversation like this with a health professional, and lack of access because health professionals haven't always been able to provide this service, and also costs have been a barrier. So, through this investment we are trying to tackle all of those barriers and make access more affordable, give greater choice for Australian women and then also educate the health workforce so they feel confident to be able to insert long-acting contraception for patients who want them.
JOURNALIST: This is obviously a health initiative, but does it also fit in with sort of a broader ethos of the government in trying to support women better? You know, empower women, help them make it easier for them to make good decisions?
WHITE: Women's health has been overlooked for decades, and that was a key reason why the Albanese-Labor Government released our landmark Women's Health Package last year, which is a nearly $800 million investment in women's health. And through that, we have been able to provide women access to cheaper medicines, whether it's endometriosis medicine, hormone therapy. We've launched a menopause campaign to educate people and reduce the stigma about this. We've also done a lot when it comes to access to contraception, whether it's new listings on the PBS or whether it's including announcements like today with the Centres of Excellence.
We want Australian women to have choice. We want them to be able to access affordable medicines and healthcare. We want them to know that they can have a quality of life that they deserve without worrying whether they can afford that. And that's been, really, the underpinning principle behind our investment in women's health. Because we heard from so many Australian women that they felt like their health needs had been dismissed or ignored or overlooked, and we are working very hard to change that.
JOURNALIST: Is that because for too long, I guess, health necessities for women, they were having to pay for them, you know, and they weren't optional things, they were things that were necessary?
WHITE: We know that the medical system has been biassed against women, and that's because of decades of lack of research in women's health care, lack of inclusion in clinical trials. And that means that often the diagnosis and treatment pathways are very different, but often the cost is also more expensive for a lot of Australian women. We're working really hard to address this because, whether you're a man or a woman, you should have access to good quality healthcare in this country, and for too long what we know is Australian women have missed out.
JOURNALIST: Excellent. Well, I guess, explain why this announcement today resonates with you.
LAUREN YATES-JONES: So, I had so much menstrual pain in the past, it was completely debilitating, and an IUD completely changed my life. It took my pain away immediately and I was set. I felt like I had choice and control over what was happening to my body, and I got my life back. It was brilliant. Why I'm excited about this opportunity for women is because, for me, I was privileged enough to be able to afford to go through the private healthcare system, which was great. I got good healthcare, but it was really expensive and it took ages to get in. And so why I'm so excited about this Centre for Excellence is that women all across Australia, no matter what they can afford or where they live, will be able to access this essential medical care.
JOURNALIST: I think you might have hit the nail on your head in your first answer, but you reminded us that contraception is about so much more than just preventing pregnancy. Obviously, you did it because of a pain issue.
YATES-JONES: Yeah, absolutely. Contraception is about more than just not getting pregnant or not getting an STI. In my instance, it was about my menstrual pain. But people need to make their choices for their own bodies, for their own reasons. and this is a fantastic way to give women more information about what's possible for their health.
JOURNALIST: Does common sense tell you that there are women who are experiencing exactly the same thing you were that just aren't in a financial position up until now, potentially, to make that choice?
YATES-JONES: Absolutely, and I had to prioritise my health financially over other things in my life, and not everyone has that luxury.
JOURNALIST: So, it was quite expensive in your case?
YATES-JONES: Yeah, it was expensive. It took GP appointments that I had to pay for out of pocket to get my referral to my specialist, then I had to pay for my specialist out of pocket, and then I had to pay for the procedure itself and the aftercare, so it was an expensive process.
JOURNALIST: There's obviously intent from the Federal Government to get this right, but what advice would you have in terms of how you would shape this program to make sure that- because it might take a little bit of tweaking over time, what sort of things do they need to make sure they are supporting women to do?
YATES-JONES: I think the government needs to listen to women, particularly the women that live in rural remote communities. And for all people with uteruses, this healthcare needs to work for everyone, no matter where you live and what you can afford.
JOURNALIST: Removing those barriers, I guess, and looking at exactly where the practical barriers that are holding women up are?
YATES-JONES: Yeah, the practical barriers to access are real. Some women have to drive five, six hours to get to their doctor's appointments, and that's not necessary in 2026. So, we need to listen to women and learn what women need to be able to make simple medical decisions easier.
JOURNALIST: And you talked about the financial sort of balance, but I imagine that if we get this right in terms of making it easier, less time consuming, less expensive, and then obviously makes someone feel better, it's going to have huge flow-on effects. I mean, it would be easier to go to work and do all those sort of things. Do you agree with that?
YATES-JONES: Yeah, I do- I could sit through a meeting without being in pain and being distracted. I could focus. It completely transformed my life, and women need to know that sitting in pain isn't necessary and that completely putting your life on hold because of medical decisions isn't necessary. We've got choice and we've got options now.
JOURNALIST: So, you'd encourage other women, if this resonates with them tonight, to take that first step and reach out and try to find out what's out there, what's an option?
YATES-JONES: Absolutely. So talk to your GP, talk to the women in your life, talk to the older women in your life and ask about what they know about their options. Talk to your friends. We don't need to do this alone. We don't need to do this in silence. We've got lots of information out there, it's about finding the right option for you.
JOURNALIST: So you've heard from the Assistant Minister, you've heard from Lauren, and is this- from your point of view, will this make a big difference?
ELIZA TAYLOR, PRIMARY HEALTH TASMANIA MANAGER: The Long Acting Reversible Contraception at the Centre of Excellence is going to make a huge difference to the lives of Tasmanian women, people with a uterus, gender diverse people, transgender men. It's a really important initiative that we're really pleased to be leading here in Tasmania.
JOURNALIST: And we were reminded when Lauren started her interview that this is about so much more than just contraception for pregnancy prevention. In her example it completely changed her life. Is that something that you hear all the time?
TAYLOR: Absolutely. I think that question's probably better answered by Lauren. But it is certainly something that we're really excited to be working with the provider at the Centre of Excellence to deliver better education towards Tasmanian women.
JOURNALIST: From your experience, what things do we need to get right in rolling this out? You know, obviously there's the intent there, the money's there, but practically, what do we need to make sure we're doing to support women to get the access they need?
TAYLOR: Training and education across rural areas in Tasmania for all healthcare providers to enable greater access for all people who need access to long-acting reversible contraception.
JOURNALIST: Am I right in saying that, it's a little bit of a jackpot where, if you go to a GP some people will be absolutely au fait with everything we're talking about today, and for some it'll be new territory? Do we need to make sure that's more consistent across our GP’s?
TAYLOR: The Long Acting Reversible Contraception Centre of Excellence will provide greater education opportunities to all healthcare professionals across Tasmania, which will in turn increase access to education and different options for women.
JOURNALIST: Would you encourage GP’s if they see this story tonight and think, well, not my area of expertise, to put in the time so that can be really useful to their patients when it comes to giving good advice in this space?
TAYLOR: Absolutely. It's all about education, even for GP’s and health professionals not delivering the long-acting reversible contraception themselves, it's still really important to have that really good awareness of it and to be able to provide referrals to other health professionals providing that service.
JOURNALIST: What's your advice if someone, and obviously Lauren took control of her situation, but if someone's a bit more intimidated by what the first steps would be, what's your best advice there?
TAYLOR: As Lauren said, reach out to those people in your life, talk to your health professionals, they're there to help. The Centre of Excellence is going to provide greater opportunity and access for people to be able to access that information as well.
JOURNALIST: And Bec talked about the inequality, I guess, between women's access to health. Does that resonate with you? And is that still a big issue in 2026?
TAYLOR: People across Tasmania actually have lower access to long-acting reversible contraception to those in comparable countries, which is very eye-opening. So, we're really hoping that this centre of excellence will be able to increase that access to this very important service for women.
JOURNALIST: Can you put your finger on why that is? Like why we- I mean we're a rich country, why we've slipped behind other countries in this space?
TAYLOR: We're quite geographically dispersed here in Tasmania. We do have a limited workforce, which is growing. We do have a lot of interest in women's health, which is growing and is fantastic to see. So, we are starting to see more and more information and awareness raising. I think in Tasmania we have a lot of work to do in terms of that awareness-raising piece, and that will come through the training and education that is offered through the Centre of Excellence. Misinformation is a really key component of limited access to LARC here in Tasmania as well. The Centre of Excellence is going to work towards reducing the barriers, which includes more education to reduce some of the misinformation and miseducation that is happening across the state.
JOURNALIST: What sort of mistruths are out there when it comes to contraception?
TAYLOR: There's a lot of mistruths that are out there in terms of access, hormonal fluctuations, pain. People are not aware of how much a LARC can actually cost them. So, through providing services through the Centre of Excellence, it will be at no charge to women.