Committee to examine pain, postpartum care and medical devices
Australia’s Senate has launched a national inquiry into women’s health after Victoria’s pain inquiry drew more than 13,000 responses over eight months.
On 19 August 2026, the Senate established the Select Committee on Women’s Health on a motion moved by Senator Marielle Smith, who will chair it.
Members will examine postpartum healthcare, women’s pain and experiences of medical misogyny, fertility and assisted reproduction, and the regulation of medical devices used in women’s healthcare. Hearings will be held around the country.
The national move follows Victoria’s Inquiry into Women’s Pain. The Victorian Government released its report, Bridging the Gender Pain Gap, in November 2025 after work led by Safer Care Victoria with the Victorian Women’s Health Advisory Council and the Department of Health.
Seven in ten women who responded to the Victorian inquiry reported being ignored, dismissed or having their pain minimised by a health professional. Close to a quarter had seen more than ten medical services before receiving a correct diagnosis.
More than 13,000 women, girls, gender diverse people, carers and clinicians took part. Victoria’s inquiry was the first of its kind in Australia and produced 27 recommendations across seven areas.
WHISE to seek broader access
Women’s Health in the South East, known as WHISE, welcomed the Senate decision and plans to make a submission.
“The scale of the Victorian response was itself a finding,” WHISE chief executive officer Kit McMahon said.
McMahon argued that many women had not been asked about these experiences before. As a result, she said they came forward in numbers nobody predicted.
WHISE serves Victoria’s Southern Metropolitan Region. It covers 10 local government areas from Port Phillip to Cardinia.
That region includes the City of Greater Dandenong, which WHISE describes as Australia’s most culturally diverse municipality, with residents from 157 birthplaces and around 2,000 people seeking asylum. It also includes the City of Casey, one of the country’s fastest growing councils.
McMahon warned that the inquiry’s reach would shape what it found. She pointed to women two weeks after birth, women without a car and women without English as a first language as people least likely to appear before a Senate committee.
WHISE will ask the committee to consider health promotion, primary prevention and recovery alongside treatment. It also wants the inquiry to keep physical and mental health connected and to include peri-urban growth corridors as well as regional and rural Australia.
Meanwhile, the Parliament of Australia will publish submission and hearing details once committee membership and reporting dates are settled. Submission dates were not available on 19 August 2026.
