Women’s Health: Senate Select Committee Inquiry
October 2026
This submission, prepared by Amplify51 Limited and the Gender Lens Investing Collaborative, an initiative of Australians Investing in Women, responds to the call for submissions by the Senate Select Committee on Women's Health (Committee), recognising the Terms of Reference have a focus on postpartum healthcare, fertility and assisted reproduction, women’s pain, medical devices used in women's healthcare, data and research, and any related matters.
Our submission supports the Committee's focus on postpartum healthcare, fertility and assisted reproduction, women’s pain and the safety and regulation of medical devices used in women's healthcare. These matters warrant sustained policy attention and consideration within a life-course lens and the broader systems that shape health outcomes for women and girls throughout their lives.
In conjunction with the conditions specifically included in the Terms of Reference, we submit that the Committee's review will have significantly greater impact if it includes consideration of:
·the substantial disease burden associated with conditions that affect women and girls disproportionately or differently, and conditions that affect only women;
a life-course lens, rather than a disease-specific episodic lens, recognising the biological reality of the intersection of multiple health conditions impacting women of all ages, including but not limited to pregnancy and future cardiovascular risk[1], and menopause and its impact on multiple organ systems including cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, urology, and psychiatry, not only obstetrics and gynaecology;[2] and
early and growth-stage capital mobilisation with initiatives that draw on Commonwealth efforts to increase productivity and sovereign capability, to catalyse increased private and public sector investment in women’s health, led by diverse entrepreneurs.
We recommend that a broader definition of women’s health in policy and investment should expressly include conditions that affect women exclusively, disproportionately or differently. This would support a comprehensive health policy approach that reflects women’s lived experience of disease burden[3]. This broader approach would deliver greater impact for women and girls throughout their lives. Applying a life-course lens, rather than a disease-specific episodic lens, across health, research, innovation, investment and service delivery would be consistent with Australia's National Women's Health Strategy 2020-2030[4] and Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality[5].
Broadening the attention of the review not only to the supply of research funding, but also to the capital-market architecture that determines whether research is translated into commercially viable products and services is also necessary to ensure promising innovations actually become accessible to women and girls and deliver real-world impact. Where specialist managers and growth-stage investors lack sufficient scale or risk-sharing capacity, promising innovations can stall between research, commercialisation and adoption. Government can address this financing gap by using cornerstone capital to mobilise private investment, build specialist investment capability and crowd capital into areas of women’s health of strategic public and economic importance.
Our submission recommends that improving women's health should be recognised as more than a health policy strategy. It should also be considered a productivity, innovation and economic opportunity. Closing the women's health gap in Australia could contribute approximately US$24.8 billion annually to the Australian economy through improved health, workforce participation and productivity[6].
Government funded policies and systems that include targets to improve women’s economic equality and security, including investment in productivity, education, welfare and community care, are developed assuming women are in good health, yet data demonstrates this is not the case for many women[7][8]. Closing the gender health gap will enable greater impact and higher returns on investment for these separate strategic commitments, as more women and girls spend less time unwell, waiting for diagnosis, and missing time at school or work.
Investing in closing the gender health gap will also reduce the forecast growing burden on the health system as the Australian population ages, with women living longer than men[9]. Earlier interventions, improved treatments and care pathways will reduce the cost of emergency care, early retirement and disability claims that governments, employers and insurers are already paying.[10]
The National Reconstruction Fund’s priority areas include medical technology and innovation, and it has a mandate to support diverse entrepreneurs; leveraging this existing allocation to address the women’s health investment gap would contribute to addressing these gaps and enabling this economic and productivity dividend for the Australian economy[11].
Recent Australian Federal Government reforms and investments, including implementation of the National Women's Health Strategy 2020-2030[12], establishment of the National Women's Health Advisory Council[13], increased investment in women's health initiatives including the commitment to deliver the first perimenopause and menopause clinical guidelines[14] and reforms supporting greater consideration of sex and gender in health and medical research[15], have created strong foundations for future progress.
[1] Consulate General of Switzerland in New York and FemTechnology Research. The Architecture of Women's Health: Outcomes & Action Framework: A Swiss-Led Dialogue on Risk, Resilience and Innovation. 10 March 2026.
[2] Calla Lily Clinical Care and ABIG Health 2026 White Paper, The Business case for Integrating Menopause Education into the Medical School Curriculum: a Central Issue, Not a Peripheral One
[3] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of women in Australia. AIHW, Australian Government, 2025.
[4] Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. National Women's Health Strategy 2020-2030. Commonwealth of Australia, 2019.
[5] Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality. 2024.
[6] McKinsey Health Institute. Bridging the Women's Health Gap: A Country-Level Exploration. 2024.
[7] McKinsey Health Institute. Bridging the Women's Health Gap: A Country-Level Exploration. 2024.
[8] World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute. Closing the Women's Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. 2024
[9] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Health System Spending on disease & injury in Australia 2022-2023 (last updated 20 Nov 2024). AIHW, Australian Government, 2024
[10] Consulate General of Switzerland in New York and FemTechnology Research. The Architecture of Women's Health: Outcomes & Action Framework: A Swiss-Led Dialogue on Risk, Resilience and Innovation. 10 March 2026
[11] National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, Insight Snapshot: What are the NRFC’s Priority Areas and why do they matter? Published 30 July 2025
[12] Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. National Women's Health Strategy 2020-2030. Commonwealth of Australia, 2019
[13] Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. National Women's Health Advisory Council. 2026.
[14] The Australian Living Evidence Collaboration (ALEC) partnering with leading health and research organisations in the development of new Australian Perimenopause and Menopause Guidelines. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the guidelines will support healthcare professionals in their care of women experiencing perimenopause and menopause (latest guidance 27 August 2026)
[15] National Health and Medical Research Council. Embedding Sex and Gender Considerations in Research for Better Medical Outcomes. 2025
Link to submission to follow.