Two-thirds of women report bias or discrimination in Australian healthcare in national survey
A woman “bullied into” accepting long-term contraception in order to obtain endometriosis surgery is one of many dehumanising experiences of gender bias in the health system revealed by a government survey.
Of the 2,570 female patients who responded to the End Gender Bias survey, two-thirds reported gender bias or discrimination.
The report found disrespectful and demeaning interactions often occurred when women were most vulnerable, such as during intimate examinations and childbirth.
The survey was conducted by the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, formed in late 2022 to address medical misogyny and chaired by assistant minister for health, Ged Kearney.
Kearney will launch the report at the council’s first National Women’s Health Summit on Thursday, which she said will mark a “turning point for women’s health in Australia”.
“For the first time, the Australian government is addressing the complex and systemic bias against women in healthcare,” Kearney said.
Along with patients, healthcare professionals and peak stakeholder groups also shared their experiences, with more than 2,800 responses.
Gender bias was most often experienced while receiving care for sexual and reproductive health and chronic pain.
The survey specifically sought responses from First Nations women, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer women, those with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, lower socioeconomic status, regional and remote communities and women living with disability.
A First Nations woman between 18 and 24 years of age with a disability and experience of homelessness recounted being coerced into receiving an intrauterine device. “I was bullied into accepting another IUD during this surgery [for endometriosis]. I was told that the surgery would not be scheduled if I do not consent to an IUD.”
The president of the national association specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists, Dr Gino Pecoraro, and the head of the Endometriosis Group at the University of Adelaide, Prof Louise Hull, said while there could be advantages for women with endometriosis receiving an IUD, it was unacceptable for a patient to be forced to receive one.
The report also found gender bias in the lack of evidence around health issues more commonly experienced by women, from gynaecological issues such as endometriosis to autoimmune conditions and chronic complex syndromes like chronic migraines, as well as situations where women present differently or have different experiences and outcomes to men, such as heart disease and neurodiverse conditions like ADHD.
Barriers to accessing healthcare restrict women’s choices. These barriers include long waiting times and affordability, with women’s health conditions often more expensive to manage and much of the management not funded by public healthcare, the report found.
The CEO of Jean Hailes and chair of the council’s empowerment subcommittee, Sarah White, said the survey was not designed to give a prevalence figure, but “it is really about understanding the experiences”.
White said it was important all healthcare professionals prioritise women’s health, rather than seeing it as a “special interest group.”
“I think that’s the work we’re doing with the advisory council to show [women’s health] is not the optional extra. It is 51% of the population.”
The founding director of the George Institute for Global Health at the University of New South Wales, Prof Robyn Norton, also a member of the council, said “the survey really identifies … gender bias does exist in the healthcare system within Australia”.
“I think it really is a wake up call for what we’re doing in Australia to address women’s health,” she said.
