Bridging the gender pain gap
Published: December 1, 2025
Blog
Across our region, and the state, a quiet message has been growing louder: women’s pain is real, it’s common, and it’s too often ignored.
The recent Bridging the Gender Pain Gap report, distilled from the Inquiry Into Women’s Pain, amplified the voices of thousands of women - 13,000 of them! And those voices tell a story that matters to every patient, every caregiver, and every one of us who cares about a woman or a girl and her ability to access fair and practical healthcare. This is a story about listening, about dignity, and finally about turning lived experience into real, tangible and positive change.
There are some very clear messages from this report. Women seeking help for pain are too often dismissed or dissatisfied with treatment; in fact, 71% of respondents cited widespread dismissal by health professionals as a primary challenge in seeking help. Pain, and particularly persistent pain, in women impacts more than bodies. It impacts work, study, family responsibilities, relationships, and mental health and wellbeing. Pain can reshape the look and feel of life.
In our communities, where people rely on close-knit support networks, this ripple effect is deeply felt. When someone in our community is forced to leave work early, miss a game or skip school because of pain, it doesn’t stay at home. It travels with them into every conversation, every appointment, every decision. It has real world impact.
The report’s message is blunt but hopeful - when we acknowledge the full reach of pain, we can begin to treat it more honestly and more effectively. It is an acknowledgment that living with pain is not normal, it's should not be accepted as a woman’s ‘lot in life’, and it's not something that women should tolerate without question.
The inquiry heard that the health system itself sometimes adds to the burden of pain. They spoke of time spent waiting for care that never quite fits, of health professionals who didn’t seem to understand how pain presents in women, or who dismissed and minimised concerns. That experience isn’t just frustrating, it’s dangerous. If people feel unheard, they may delay seeking care, and they may miss chances for an early, accurate diagnosis. In rural settings, where access gaps are already real - where there are often fewer specialists, longer travel distances, higher costs - the risks and consequences of being dismissed or overlooked grows even more troubling.
A word of caution here. Women’s experiences of dismissal and dissatisfaction are too numerous and too consistent not to take seriously. This is not, however, about demonising the good and hardworking folk in the medical sector. They are working within a system where bias and discrimination, lack of research, education, training and resources have systemically minimised women’s experiences for decades. During a recent consultation we held across the region, some local health practitioners shared that they are sometimes challenged to access the education and support they need. Rather than place blame with individual health professionals, as a community, we must support these good folk to embrace thefindings and recommendations, to acknowledge that there is room to do things differently, and ultimately to deliver the change we need.
So what does the report propose?
It lays out practical steps that could reshape how care is delivered in communities like ours. Across seven broad reform areas, and with a total of 27 recommendations, the message is to bring pain care closer to home, reduce bias in clinical encounters, and ensure that every person receives timely, appropriate care. If you’re thinking in real, everyday terms, that could mean better access to specialists when you need them, faster referrals, clearer information about what to expect in treatment, and resources that respect your time and your finances.
In practice, it means listening before prescribing, validating what people report about their own bodies and experiences, and using those stories to shape guidelines and standards. For regional communities that shift really matters, because it promises reforms that are practical, grounded, and accountable.
Language matters, too. The report encompasses anyone who experiences gender-based health disparities. In plain terms, that means recognising the real-world diversity of bodies and experiences across our communities. When policy speaks plainly and inclusively, it reduces confusion, builds trust, and makes it easier for people to seek the help they need without feeling sidelined or erased.
Of course, there are limits to any inquiry. The report notes that the voices it gathered were self-selecting, that diagnoses and treatments described by participants weren’t independently verified, and that not every voice may have been heard. Transparency about those limits doesn’t weaken the message, it strengthens the obligation on government, decision makers, health leaders and community to keep listening, to keep checking in with communities, and to refine reforms as new evidence comes in. In regional life, where changing a policy can hinge on support from local clinics, local health service networks, and community groups, good faith in that ongoing conversation is essential.
While this report lays out clear actions for government and healthcare, there is a call to action for us all as community members, as employers, as family and friends. To really hear the voices of the women, girls, and gender-diverse people and let them inform how we demonstrate care and provide support. When we do that, reforms stop being distant promises and become the everyday experiences of better care: faster access, kinder conversations, treatments that actually fit real lives.
If you live in a regional town and you’ve ever felt dismissed in a health setting, or you’ve watched a friend or relative wait too long for help, you’re not alone. The inquiry’s core message is for you: your voice matters, your experience matters, and your story can guide a health system toward fairness, not just efficiency. Honouring your voice is not a gesture; it’s the essential work of making health care work for everyone.
https://www.health.vic.gov.au/inquiry-into-womens-pain
https://genderequality.gov.au/working-for-women/priority-area-4-health