The Australian Government handed down its federal budget for 2025-2026 on Tuesday evening, including a $793 million women’s health package, designed to offer greater choice and lower costs to patients – a welcome relief for many grappling with Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, as well as those facing significant barriers to accessing safe and timely maternity care.
The 2025/26 budget includes a mix of both short and long-term commitments which will impact women’s healthcare and provide cost-of-living relief. Here’s a summary of what’s been allocated:
Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
As of 1 March 2025, some of the most commonly used oral contraceptive pills, drosperinone with ethinylestradiol (Yaz® and Yasmin®) are now listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), lowering the cost to users, and offering a progestogen-only pill for women who cannot take contraceptives with estrogens.
A new endometriosis treatment – relugolix with estradiol and with norethisterone (sold as Ryeqo) – will also be available on the PBS from 1 May 2025.
Three menopausal hormone therapies, Estradiol (Estrogel®), progesterone (Prometrium®) and estradiol and progesterone (Estrogel® Pro), have been listed on the PBS slashing out-of-pocket costs for the thousands of women relying on these treatments.
An amended listing of follitropin alfa with lutropin alfa (Pergoveris) will make access available earlier in IVF cycles, as well as increasing the maximum number of pens available per script from two to four. Without the PBS subsidy four Pergoveris pens costs more than $3500.
The cost of scripts the PBS will also be reduced from $31.70 to $25, which will benefit all Australians, not just women.
Doctors and nurse practitioners will receive up to 150% higher Medicare payments for providing bulk billed insertion and removal of IUDs and implants. An investment of over $25 million will establish eight ‘LARC Centres of Training Excellence’ to ensure GPs and nurse practitioners are trained and confident in this area.
New Medicare rebates for menopause health assessments and funding to train health professionals.
From 1 July 2025, a new Medicare rebate will be available for menopause health assessments, designed to enable women experiencing symptoms of menopause and perimenopause to seek appropriate support from their GP. Funding has also been allocated for a national awareness campaign, the development of a national clinical guideline for the management of menopause and perimenopause, and to provide additional training to health care professionals.
Expanding access to care.
Funding has been allocated for the Government to roll out 11 additional endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia and to expand the remit of all 33 clinics to also provide specialist support for menopause and perimenopause. Specialist endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics were recommended by RANZCOG to the South Australia Select Committee on Endometriosis. The College is encouraged by this investment and would like to see it expanded further in future budgets.
TV has long advocated for the improvements that are funded in this year’s budget — including better remuneration for doctors through MBS items, and greater access and affordability for women — through its participation in the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, government consultations and inquiries, facilitation of roundtables, pre-budget submissions, ongoing advocacy at federal and state levels, and an increased media presence. It is heartening to see the importance of supporting women’s health reflected in funding.
TV President, Dr Gillian Gibson, welcomed today’s announcements and commended the government’s commitment to women’s health but emphasised that, “While these measures will improve affordability, access and outcomes for women, there is no doubt about that, I challenge the government to see this investment as a platform to build on, towards true gender equity in health care.
We cannot ignore the ongoing financial disadvantage women face in accessing essential medications, treatments, and procedures—whether for sexual reproductive health, pregnancy, menopause, or more complex conditions including endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain. These are not luxuries; they are fundamental healthcare needs.”
TV believes that to achieve true equity, we must undertake a holistic gendered review of the MBS, PBS, and the amounts that private insurers pay to private hospitals for O&G procedures and surgeries to identify and eliminate systemic gender bias. The College recognises that a balanced and sustainable healthcare system is central to ensuring choice and access for women immaterial of their demographics, location or any other social factors.
These structures need to keep pace with the real costs of delivering care. We need sustained prioritisation of investment in women’s health, alongside continuous reviews of the PBS to align with pharmaceutical innovation and the MBS to reflect inflation and the rising cost of living.
The government must also ensure public hospitals have designated funding tied to gynaecological procedures and surgeries to prevent women languishing on long waiting lists whilst their conditions worsen.
It is critical that our leaders tackle the systemic issues fuelling workforce shortages and make consistent ongoing investments in upskilling and training for all healthcare professionals—including specialist O&Gs—who play a critical part in providing safe and timely women’s health care. Funding for hospitals is essential as is support for the health professional workforce that staffs them. This is particularly important in rural, regional and remote areas where the crucial question is how we best attract, and retain much needed specialists and their families, to sustain the care that women need and deserve, close to home.
TV is encouraged to see women’s health as a focus for investment in this year’s budget, and was reassured that was immediately backed by the Coalition. Women’s health should not be the territory of one political point of view. The College is pleased to see support across the aisle, securing the likelihood that this investment will be honoured regardless of the federal election outcome.
TV is committed to working with the federal government, Department of Health and Aged Care and all other key stakeholders to continue pursuing excellence and equity in women’s health.
For media enquiries
Bec McPhee
Head of Advocacy & Communications
0413 258 166
bmcphee@ranzcog.edu.au
