A pharmacy trial has been expanded to allow the re-supply of oral contraceptives over the counter. Photo: File.
The Greens want to make contraceptives free for women and will campaign to do so during the federal election campaign.
The crossbench party, which has a significant chance of being part of a minority government after the election, unveiled on Wednesday (4 December) what they are describing as a “transformative election policy” to remove financial barriers to reproductive health.
Their policy is to provide $250 million per year (ongoing, indexed by CPI) to make Therapeutic Goods Administration and approved non-Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme contraceptives free, including subsidising the non-hormonal copper IUD.
The Greens will remove the PBS co-payment to make PBS-listed contraceptive methods free.
The policy will cover the schedule fee for reproductive procedures to make contraceptive insertion and removal free.
And it will introduce a new Medicare item for contraceptive counselling, including training for all prescribers.
Greens spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said Australians are living through a cost-of-living crisis in the face of financial stress and gender inequality.
“The Greens will take to the election a commitment to provide women with free access to contraceptives,” she said.
“There are 4.8 million women in Australia using contraceptives, and making them free would save women hundreds of dollars a year and empower women to make decisions about bodily autonomy despite a difficult financial climate.
“Oral contraceptives can cost hundreds of dollars annually, especially the modern pills with fewer side effects, and long-acting reversible contraceptives are in the hundreds, leaving many women to cut corners and use cheaper options or go without contraception.
“The Greens policy would eliminate the PBS co-payment and subsidise non-PBS listed contraceptives plus the cost of inserting IUDs, as well as creating a contraceptive counselling MBS [Medicare benefits schedule] item so that all parts of the process will be free to the patient.
“Our policy would make sure people can access the contraception that works for them, regardless of their bank balance and whether they live in the city, the country, or are studying on a visa.”
Senator Waters noted that many countries, including France, the UK, Ireland, British Columbia and many Scandinavian countries, already provide free contraceptives.
Studies from these countries that offer free contraceptives, she said, show that more young people use them when cost isn’t a barrier, leading to fewer unintended pregnancies and greater reproductive choices.
“With abortion rights in Queensland potentially under threat, it has never been more important to ensure women are able to avoid unwanted pregnancies,” Senator Waters said.
Almost two years ago, the Greens initiated the federal Senate inquiry into universal access to reproductive healthcare.
It included a recommendation that contraceptives should be more affordable and accessible.
It was one of the inquiry’s 36 consensus recommendations.
“Access to sexual, reproductive and maternal healthcare is a fundamental human right which contributes to positive health, social and economic outcomes across the whole community,” the inquiry’s report states.
“Australia’s health system must enable all people to effectively exercise choice and control without fear of discrimination or disadvantage and to be adequately supported in their decisions.
“Women in regional and remote areas in particular should feel confident that they can access appropriate sexual, reproductive and maternal healthcare without facing excessive barriers of cost or distance.”
The Greens remain committed to the inquiry’s recommendations and say it’s now time for the Federal Government to respond to them and to fund free contraceptives for women.
“The Senate inquiry showed that cost and lack of information are major barriers preventing people from getting the best contraceptive method for their needs,” Senator Waters said.
“The Greens policy addresses those gaps by funding a separate MBS item for contraceptive counselling and also directly supports recommendations from the inquiry to subsidise the non-hormonal copper IUD.
“The Greens are committed to empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their reproductive health without further financial strain.”
Loading ...
