The Greens today unveil a transformative election policy ensuring that women can get free contraceptives, removing financial barriers to reproductive health.
Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson on Women, said:
“We are in a cost-of-living crisis and 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.
“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 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.
“Many countries already provide free contraceptives, like France, the UK, Ireland, British Columbia and multiple Scandinavian countries.
“Studies from countries that offer free contraceptives show that more young people use it when cost isn’t a barrier, leading to fewer unintended pregnancies and greater reproductive choices.¹
“With abortion rights in Queensland potentially under threat it has never been more important to ensure women are able to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
“Almost two years ago, I initiated the federal Senate inquiry into universal access to reproductive healthcare. It included a recommendation that contraceptives should be more affordable and accessible. The Greens are committed to that – and now it’s time for the government to respond to the 36 consensus recommendations from that report and 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.
“The Greens policy addresses those gaps by funding a separate MBS item for contraceptive counselling, and also and 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.
BACKGROUND
The Greens will:
- Provide $250m per year (ongoing, indexed by CPI) to make TGA approved non-PBS contraceptives free, including subsidising the non-hormonal copper IUD.
- Remove the PBS co-payment to make PBS listed contraceptive methods free.
- Cover the schedule fee for reproductive procedures to make contraceptive insertion and removal free.
- Introduce a new Medicare item for contraceptive counselling, including training for all prescribers.
Link to full Senate Inquiry report Ending the postcode lottery: Addressing barriers to sexual, maternity and reproductive healthcare in Australia
REFERENCES
- Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Free of Charge, Method Initiation, and Abortion Rates in Finland. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5844404/