Health problems hitting women's ability to work, remain employed

Victorian women have revealed that they have health conditions that affected their ability to work and keep a job, according to a new survey.

The poll released by the Victorian government on Monday shed light on women's issues, from sexual and reproductive health, mental health, pregnancy and birth, menopause, to pain.

According to the survey, 25% of participants said their health conditions made an impact on their productivity, ability to work, and keep a job.

"Women with a disability were 11% more likely to experience this than other participants," the report said.

Overall, the report found that about 50% of women said menstruation-related conditions affected their health and wellbeing. About 50% of participants also said pregnancy and the complications of birth had "lasting effects" on their health and wellbeing.

"We also heard about the lasting effects of fertility challenges and miscarriage and the shadow these experiences cast across women's esteem, relationships, and workforce participation," the report said.

Victoria's plan for ‘systemic gender pain gap’

Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said the findings highlight a "systemic gender pain gap" in Victoria.

"It's why we are transforming our health system – delivering new women's health clinics, recruiting more women's health specialists, and establishing more dedicated sexual and reproductive health hubs across the state," Thomas said in a media release.

According to the state government, 20 new comprehensive women's health clinics will be established where women can see specialists, such as gynaecologist, urologist, specialist nursing and allied health, in a single place.

Nine sexual and reproductive health hubs will also be established, according to the government, adding that it also plans to double the number of endo and associated surgeries.

Menstruation, menopause policies at work

Meanwhile, with menstruation-related conditions on the spotlight again for hitting women's health and wellbeing, the question of what employers can do to offer help is raised anew.

Sydney Colussi, co-convener of the Body@Work Project, previously told HRD that the most promising measure to address the issue is by taking a non-prescriptive approach.

"Meaning that they can be quite individualised to a person's needs," Colussi said. "And that is really important because those types of policies acknowledge that these issues will not affect people in the same way."

Colussi underscored that offering paid leave or flexible work for issues such as menstruation can be "quite controversial."

"There's a really justifiable concern that formally addressing these issues and workplace policy may backfire on women. There's a risk of reinforcing biological stereotypes and the idea that women are less capable of paid work than men due to their biology. That's an extremely regressive idea that we want to avoid at all costs," she said.

Victoria's Listening to Women's Voices report sought the responses of over 1,700 Victorian women, which will be used to inform the state's new services. The government will soon launch a new Inquiry into Women's Pain, which will assess systemic issues and solutions and hear directly from women across Victoria.