The Senate Select Committee on Women's Health: What Is It, and How Do I Make a Submission?
Written By Abi Jettner, Physiotherapist at Hatched House
A new Senate inquiry into women’s health is examining postpartum care, chronic pain, fertility treatment and the regulation of medical devices used in women's healthcare… and it is asking women to contribute directly.
You might be asking these questions, and we are here to help answer them to the best of our ability as women’s healthcare experts: What is the Select Committee on Women's Health? Why was it established? What exactly is it looking at? And if you have a relevant experience, how do you actually go about making a submission?
In short: the Select Committee on Women's Health is a Senate inquiry established in August 2026 to examine postpartum care, pain and medical misogyny, fertility and assisted reproduction, and medical device regulation. Submissions close 9 October 2026. There is no set format or length, you do not need to be an expert, and you can request that your name be withheld or your submission kept confidential.
Below, our team answers the questions we're hearing most often from clients and our community about the inquiry and how to take part.
What Is the Select Committee on Women's Health?
The Select Committee on Women's Health is a Senate committee established on 19 August 2026. Select committees are temporary, created to inquire into a specific issue, gather evidence through public submissions and hearings, and report back to Parliament with findings and recommendations. This Committee is due to present its final report by 18 August 2027, and is currently accepting written submissions from individuals and organisations.
Its influence comes from what it puts on the public record: the submissions, the hearing testimony, and the final report tabled in Parliament, which government departments and future policy are expected to respond to.
Why Was the Committee Established?
The Committee follows sustained advocacy for a dedicated federal inquiry into women's health, and builds on a growing body of federal investment in this area, including recent funding for endometriosis and menopause care and improved access to long-acting contraception.
It also follows the precedent set by Victoria's Inquiry into Women's Pain, which received responses from more than 13,000 women, girls, gender-diverse people, carers and clinicians. That response demonstrated something important: women were not short of insight into their own healthcare experiences. What had been missing was a formal avenue to put that insight on the public record.
What Is the Committee Actually Investigating?
The Committee's terms of reference, as published by the Parliament of Australia, cover four main areas.
1. Postpartum healthcare, including best-practice approaches to physical and mental health support for mothers and partners (including those who have experienced infant loss). This area also includes the physical, psychological, emotional and economic impacts of birth, the cost and accessibility of postpartum healthcare (specifically naming infant feeding supports), mental health supports, physiotherapy services including pelvic health services, and related allied health services, antenatal and postpartum reproductive health education, contraceptive care, and workforce training and government policy in this area.
2. Pain and medical misogyny, including how women and girls experience recurrent, severe or long-lasting pain conditions, women's experience seeking appropriate healthcare responses to pain, which includes experiences of medical misogyny, and barriers to effective, affordable pain management.
3. Fertility and assisted reproduction, including best-practice approaches to treatment and the access and affordability issues women face.
4. Medical device regulation, including risk assessment, monitoring and reporting for medical devices used in women's healthcare, and how regulators respond to complaints.
The terms of reference close with "any related matters," giving the Committee scope to consider issues raised in submissions that sit outside these specific points but still relate to women's health.
It's worth noting for our own clients: pelvic health physiotherapy is named explicitly in the terms of reference, as part of the cost and accessibility of postpartum care. This is a direct invitation for physiotherapists, and the women who access, or struggle to access their services, to contribute evidence.
Why Does This Inquiry Matter?
The terms of reference reflect issues that have been well documented in Australian and international research for some time.
Diagnostic delay is significant and persistent. Endometriosis affects an estimated 1 in 7 Australian women, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports an average delay of 6 to 8 years between symptom onset and diagnosis. A 2025 Australian survey found an average diagnostic delay of 12.3 years among participants, with dismissal by medical professionals cited as the predominant cause (Mosterd et al., 2025). This is a pattern consistent with the medical misogyny, and is named explicitly in the Committee's terms of reference.
Postpartum musculoskeletal and pelvic floor symptoms are common and under-treated. Musculoskeletal pain is reported by more than half of women in the weeks following childbirth. Evidence for physiotherapy-based intervention is strong: a 2026 systematic review found pelvic floor muscle training produced greater strength gains postpartum than during pregnancy, with more reliable results when training included feedback and supervision (Jin & Lee, 2026), being the model of care an experienced pelvic health physiotherapist provides.
Access to fertility and assisted reproduction remains uneven. Cost continues to be one of the most commonly reported barriers to fertility treatment in Australia, and is an issue the Committee has been explicitly asked to examine.
Regulatory gaps have had documented consequences. The Committee's focus on medical device regulation follows a well-established history of concern in Australia regarding transvaginal mesh, where regulatory response lagged behind reports of complications for years.
Why Should I Consider Making a Submission?
A submission is one of the few direct ways an individual can influence the recommendations Parliament ultimately considers. The Committee is not only interested in expert or clinical evidence. Lived experience carries genuine weight, and committee reports routinely draw directly from personal submissions. If the Victorian pain inquiry is any indication, the volume and detail of these accounts can shape not only the recommendations but the credibility of the issue in public and political discussion.
Who Can Make a Submission, and Do I Need to Be an Expert?
Any individual or organisation can make a submission. You do not need to represent a group, hold a formal qualification, or address every term of reference. A short, clear account of your own experience with postpartum care, chronic pain, fertility treatment or a medical device is a legitimate and valuable submission in its own right.
What Should I Include, and How Long Should It Be?
There is no prescribed format or length. A submission can be a few paragraphs or several pages, and may include facts, opinions, personal experience or recommendations. Focus on the parts of the terms of reference most relevant to your own experience, rather than trying to cover everything. If your submission runs longer than a page or two, a short summary at the start is helpful for the Committee.
Before you write anything, it's worth considering how much personal or identifying detail is genuinely necessary. Submissions are generally published online once accepted, and can remain accessible for many years.
Will My Submission Be Confidential?
You have options. You can request your submission be published as "Name Withheld," which removes your name and identifying details, but still allows the content to be published. If your experience cannot be suitably de-identified, you can ask for it to be received as Confidential. In this case, the Committee will still consider it, but it will not be published on the inquiry website. Your contact details are never published, regardless of which option you choose. The Committee also asks that health records and photographs not be included.
Will the Committee Name My Doctor or Clinic?
No. The Committee's role is not to investigate individual practitioners, services or organisations, or to make findings about anyone's conduct. It is looking for evidence of broader systemic issues and best-practice approaches. It will not publish the names of individual healthcare providers, services or organisations where they are reflected on adversely, nor will it publish correspondence with providers or medical records.
When Do Submissions Close, and How Do I Actually Submit?
Submissions close 9 October 2026, and the Committee is due to report by 18 August 2027. To submit, search "Select Committee on Women's Health" on the Parliament of Australia website (aph.gov.au) and use the "Upload a Submission" link on the Committee's inquiry page (the preferred and most secure method). You can also email womenshealth.sen@aph.gov.au, or post a submission to the Committee Secretariat, PO Box 6100, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600. For accessibility requirements, contact the Secretariat directly on (02) 6277 3828.
Read the Committee's terms of reference and make a submission → HERE.
* If any part of what you're considering sharing touches on distressing experiences, the Committee has listed support services alongside its call for submissions, including Lifeline (13 11 14), Beyond Blue (1300 224 636) and 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
Supporting Women's Health at Hatched House
We see the effects of delayed diagnosis, dismissed pain, and unmet postpartum care needs in our clinic regularly. We see this in the women who arrive after years of being told their pain was normal, and in the mothers navigating pelvic floor and musculoskeletal symptoms months or years after birth, often without ever having been offered physiotherapy as part of their care. The Committee has named pelvic health physiotherapy directly in its terms of reference, which makes this a genuine opportunity for our clients and community to contribute evidence on access and affordability, not just clinical outcomes.
Hatched House provides nurturing, excellent and ethical women's healthcare, supporting women through fertility, pregnancy, motherhood and beyond, in an inclusive, multidisciplinary environment.
References
Armour, M., Sinclair, J., Ng, C. H. M., Hyman, M. S., Lawson, K., Smith, C. A., & Abbott, J. (2020). Endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain have similar impact on women, but time to diagnosis is decreasing: An Australian survey. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 16253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73389-2
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). Endometriosis in Australia. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-disease/endometriosis-in-australia-2023/contents/endometriosis
Jean Hailes for Women's Health. (2023). Pelvic pain in Australian women: 2023 National Women's Health Survey. https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/uploads/15_Research/2023-National-Womens-Health-Survey-Pelvic-Pain-in-Australia-FINAL_TGD.pdf
Jin, S., & Lee, H. (2026). Effects of pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postpartum women: A systematic review. International Urogynecology Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-026-06647-y
Mosterd, D., Evans, S., Van Niekerk, L., et al. (2025). 'A name to the pain': A mixed methods analysis of diagnostic delay and perceptions of diagnosis importance in Australians with endometriosis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 193, Article 112143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112143
Parliament of Australia. (2026). Select Committee on Women's Health: Terms of reference and making a submission. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Womens_Health
WHISE (Women's Health in the South East). (2026, August). The Senate is asking women about their health. https://whise.org.au/womens-health/senate-select-committee-womens-health/