BPWA is a member of the Working with Women Alliance which this month released a policy brief about abortion access across Australia. BPW members passed a resolution at our 2023 National Conference to advocate for a concentrated effort by all levels of government (federal, state and local) to improve access to abortion services and perinatal wrap-around services for women and girls and gender diverse people in rural and regional areas through: • lobbying the Federal Government to implement recommendation 15 of the Senate inquiry into the universal access to reproductive healthcare by ensuring surgical abortions are available in non-metropolitan hospitals.
While the governance of abortion provision is a state and territory matter, there are health systems and funding reforms the Federal Government can engage to improve cost and access. The suggested reforms presented in the policy brief consider abortion provision to be an essential part of a broader health system. The policy paper was developed and informed by the Working with Women Alliance’s Reproductive Care Working Group, whose membership consists of experts working in healthcare, service provision and research and data collection.
Persistent disparities in abortion access across Australia continue to expose gendered inequities within the health system. Despite significant recent reforms targeted at improving access to contraception and supporting menstrual health services, many people still face high costs, inconsistent standards and geographic barriers when seeking abortion care.
This policy brief calls for a nationally coordinated approach to abortion access, positioning reproductive autonomy as central to gender equality and health equity in Australia. Drawing on expert input from healthcare providers, researchers and community representatives, it argues that abortion must be recognised and funded as essential healthcare, and that federal leadership is critical to overcoming the jurisdictional fragmentation that limits timely and affordable access.
Consistently with our resolution, the WWA calls for the federal government to:
3.1 require that all public hospitals that receive federal government funding provide medical and surgical termination services or establish timely and affordable referral pathways to local providers.
3.2 expand funding for abortion services, prioritising regional and remote clinics.
3.3 establish a national abortion telehealth service for information and delivery of abortion services, modelled on the New Zealand service DECIDE.
3.4 ensure full Medicare coverage for abortion care.
By aligning with broader national gender equality and health equity objectives, the brief highlights a clear pathway for the Government to ensure equitable, person centred and culturally safe abortion care across all jurisdictions. Building on existing reproductive and public health reforms, the paper outlines five key areas for policy action.
- Develop national standards for abortion provision.
- Collect data and monitor service provision and access.
- Reduce cost of abortion services.
