West Moreton Community Health Service: Celebrations to mark International Women's Day 2009
3 March 2009
Member for Ipswich West, Mr Wayne Wendt MP,
Mayor of Somerset Regional Council, Councillor Graeme Lehman,
Councillor Tanya Milligan, Lockyer Valley Regional Council,
Councillor Janice Holstein, Lockyer Valley Regional Council,
Primary Health Programme Manager, Ms Julie Mc Neill,
Rural Health Worker, West Moreton Women's Health, Ms Pat Shirley,
District Director, Community Health Services, Ms Bev Gieble, Members of the Women's Groups from Toogoolawah, Fassifern, Fernvale, Laidley, and Rosewood,
Members of the Country Women's Association,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
In the spirit of reconciliation and community harmony that we wish to see promoted and respected throughout our State, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of these lands, the Jagera peoples and their descendants.
Thank you for the invitation to join you for your annual celebration of International Women's Day. I have celebrated IWD in many ways and many locations around the world, but Lowood CWA Hall is certainly a ‘personal first' for me. I am not, I hasten to add, unfamiliar with the Lockyer Valley region: my husband - a veterinarian - went to Gatton College and we have visited the area quite often over the years. Since I assumed my role as Governor seven months ago, I have also made quite a number of official visits to Ipswich - as the Lady Mayoress well knows - and feel I am developing a particular affinity with this thriving city. I'll be back again on the 14th for the centenary celebration of the Ipswich Thistle Pipe Band, which I welcomed as Australia's Ambassador to France, when they participated in the world's largest Interceltique Festival, in the town of Lorient in Brittany. Perhaps on a future visit, I should plan to drop in to the headquarters of the West Moreton Women's Health Service in Ipswich City Square, to see its central city operations at first hand.
Today, however, to my great pleasure, we meet outside the city in the heart of the beautiful Brisbane Valley, which some refer to as the Lockyer Valley - or, as the Mayor referred to it - the Valley of the Lakes. I am always happy when opportunities arise in my program to visit smaller, rural centres and communities such as this - conscious that these towns and communities have a particular significance in the history of our State and that, even as they have developed and changed over the years, they continue to make a very special contribution, sustained through organisations like the Lowood and other Women's Groups represented her today and the CWA - and the always-active local historical societies.
In this sesqui-centenary year in Queensland, there is obviously a heightened awareness and interest in our history and I am conscious that this region, with its wonderfully rich soils, also has a wonderfully rich history, built on the back of its agriculture and farming heritage and now being influenced increasingly by people who are making the conscious decision that they want to settle here for lifestyle reasons.
I love delving into history, looking for connections, interesting links, exploring place names and discovering local anecdotes. It gives me a better ‘feel' for a place I am visiting and the people I am meeting. In this case, I was pleased to discover that my visit today continues a long tradition of visits by the Governor to this region. Not surprising, one might say, given its proximity to Brisbane, but I particularly like ‘firsts' - and so was pleased to discover that the very first recorded visit by the very first Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, was to the region of Ipswich and to the Brisbane Valley, including this area, known then as "The Scrub" or "Cairn Hill," (and I understand on occasions is still referred to in these terms by some locals?)
Reflecting on that early history, as a woman Governor, I am naturally drawn to thinking about the women of those times.
Again - not surprisingly, because it is a pattern repeated in many regional communities in our State - the women who first settled in Lowood - and in and around this area - were a diverse and enterprising group. Many were tough, pioneering women who migrated here from Europe from what was then known as Prussia (maybe there are some descendants of those Prussian women here today?). Others were the wives and daughters of pastoralists and farmers, (and always there were indigenous women here. I am intrigued by the description of this area in ancient times as the ‘Platypus Rockshelter', where it was a winter hunting ground for our earliest peoples) - and look forward on a future visit to the region, to seeing this important location for myself.
Coming back to the colonial times, these early women pioneers and settlers had to deal with hardship, loneliness and isolation. Some were cut off from - or would have had much difficulty in accessing - many essential services and supplies. It is with them that the spirit of ‘can do' and self-reliance that I believe are the hallmarks of the women of rural and regional Queensland and Australia was born. Then - when women on the land became ill, often they ‘kept Mum' about their illnesses or just struggled through, as seeking help often meant a lengthy and sometimes expensive trip into town, leaving behind the people and the things that needed their constant care and attention. Like many women, they would have felt compelled to put the needs of others first.
In that, little has changed. In today's society, even though norms and attitudes have, happily, evolved - and more men are sharing - and sharing willingly - parenting and household responsibilities - it remains a statistical fact that it is women in the greatest numbers that assume the greatest burden of caring - caring for children, for husbands and partners through illness and old-age, for parents and relatives. And in these circumstances, many women continue to put the health and well being of others before their own.
Which is why the work of the women's health service is especially important. Despite the great gains in services and facilities in many parts of our health system for the overall population, outreach to women - encouraging women to address their own health needs and wellbeing - is still a challenge in some respects - and those challenges are compounded in our remote, regional and rural areas.
On the eve of International Women's Day, next Sunday, 8th March, at a time when we are all thinking - or should be thinking - about the role and status of women, the achievements of women, the particular issues that preoccupy them or that need to be addressed, the subject of women's health seems to me an especially important one - and I feel privileged to be with a group that brings such focus and expertise to this subject. Your function today creates an opportunity for us, together, to look at the balance sheet - to recognise and acknowledge the good work being done to improve women's health, and at the same time, to identify the areas where we need to work harder to achieve better health outcomes for the health and well being of all of the women of this State.
In some ways, when we examine the statistics for women's health in Queensland, there is cause for optimism and gains to celebrate (after all, today's event IS billed as a celebration!). Women's life expectancy now stands at 82.4 years, and is continuing to extend outwards over time. For the 50,000 or so live births in the State each year, infant mortality has dropped from 10.4 per 1,000 live births in 1981 to 5.9 by 2001, a drop of almost half. That's terrific, for women, for our families and for our society.
What pleases me and encourages me greatly about women in relation to their health, is that we seem to have overcome the fear and reticence of years ago in seeking help. There was a time, not so long ago, when women were too embarrassed to raise concerns about their health, particularly about their reproductive health, with their husbands, their families or their doctors.
Fortunately, times have changed - although we still see problems in some sectors of the community, especially immigrant populations where religious and cultural factors come into play - and the level of awareness in terms of preventative health for cancers that are specific to women, particularly breast, ovarian and cervical cancer, these days is high. A lot of that is the result of major education campaigns which have been highly effective in our community. More women than ever are more pro-active with their health, performing breast self-examination and obtaining regular Pap smear tests.
Young women now can also take advantage of the cervical cancer vaccine, which is a tremendous breakthrough that we hope will save many lives. It is this pro-active approach to talking about their health and seeking answers that has enabled real progress in getting better and earlier diagnoses of these illnesses in women - and in proceeding to treatment. By comparison, for the men in our audience, in male reproductive health, men are only now getting the message about the importance of screening for conditions such as prostate cancer. So ladies, you have a responsibility to the men in your lives as well as to your own health, to be more active in relation to health checks and screening.
On the other side of our balance sheet, however, there remain many problems/negatives:
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Although there's been a 16 per cent fall in smoking rates for women in the past decade, that is much lower than the drop for men's smoking rates in the same period, which has dropped by 21 per cent; and rates of lung cancer in women is rising;
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There are alarming increases in deaths through melanoma for women, up 20 per cent in the last 15 years;
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Only 60 per cent of women are being screened for cervical cancer;
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Rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes are at an all-time high with no signs of slowing. Sadly, Queensland has the worst results for overweight and obesity in the whole of Australia.
While everyone is aware about breast cancer these days, there is a lack of awareness about heart disease. I am patron of the Heart Foundation of Queensland and last week I spoke at a dinner to celebrate 50 years of operation of the Heart Foundation in Queensland and in Australia. Doing research for that speech, I came across something which again, surprised and shocked me. I thought that we had made considerable strides in informing the public broadly about heart disease. But the latest figures show that only 30 per cent of women are aware that heart disease, not breast cancer, but heart disease, is the leading cause of death of women in this country. I'm even more troubled to see that among younger women, those under 35, the awareness level slips to an alarming 21 per cent. We are much more aware of breast cancer, even though heart disease outranks it in the mortality stakes. Alongside the lack of awareness, there are more sobering facts, including notably, that half of Australian women have high blood cholesterol, are overweight, not getting enough exercise and over one quarter have high blood pressure.
In that context, the Heart Foundation, over the coming period, is to launch a new campaign - the ‘Go Red for Women' campaign throughout Australia, to raise levels of awareness, to make sure that women know about the risks of heart disease and to encourage them to do everything possible to act on it. I promised them last Monday that I would use every available opportunity to promote those facts and to support that campaign, and so this was a perfect opportunity, with this group of women interested in women's issues and in women's health, to do just that.
While it is disappointing that so many health problems come about as a result of social, environmental and other causes that can be prevented through better screening or through changes to diet and lifestyle, there is another dimension to women's health, which also needs a lot more attention. Tragically, for many Queensland women, poor health is linked to difficult personal circumstances, situations or experiences over which they have little control - where choice is absent or very limited.
This is an area where the members of the West Moreton Women's Health team are literally on the front line, offering emergency and acute care and support for women in crisis. Women who have been raped or beaten, who are survivors of abuse as adults or in their childhood, who have dependencies on illicit drugs of various kinds, women who are the victims of domestic violence or living in an abusive relationship. I don't know how many of you have anything to do with UNIFEM. UNIFEM is the major UN body dealing with issues relating to women and development. I had a lot to do with it when I was Australia's Ambassador to the UN for seven years - three in Geneva and four in New York. UNIFEM is running a campaign at the moment, simply called ‘Say No to Violence'. It is a global campaign dealing with violence against women in all its forms, but one which I think we need to pay particular attention to in Australia in relation to domestic violence.
Just consider the facts: domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women of reproductive age - fact; it is the single most common trigger of female suicide - fact; it is associated with poor obstetric outcomes, including low birth rates and miscarriages. It is associated with high usage of tobacco, alcohol, minor tranquilizers and other substances that obviously have negative impacts on health. It is associated with depression and other mental health problems, somatic conditions which are difficult to diagnose and to treat, and with gastro-intestinal conditions. And if you are sitting here thinking ‘that's not my community', it is also a fact that domestic violence occurs in all groups in society, but especially affects young women, indigenous women and those who live in rural communities.
The latest report that I've seen from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, says that one in three of all women in Australia have experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and that close to twenty per cent have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. For women in these situations, the services that these wonderful organisations offer, are a lifeline. Yours and your workers' voices are those that they hear at the other end of the phone when they call, often I'm told, in the middle of the night. Those voices offering support and guidance are a source of comfort and relief.
Such sympathetic conversations may assist through a bleak moment and they may certainly prevent a suicidal impulse from being translated into reality; being acted upon, but the problems and challenges that I have described are not quick-fix situations. They are invariably complex and are often compounded by other factors, including socio-economic disadvantage, isolation, cultural and language barriers and lack of access to education and family or community support.
This is where community groups, the sort of groups to which you belong and to which you commit such energy and efforts, are so vitally important in our community. I cannot over-emphasise the importance to the lives of Queensland women living outside the metropolitan areas, the benefits to be gained by connecting with their local communities through such groups as the Lowood Women's Group, the other Women's groups here today and the Queensland Country Women's Association.
Every single one of us knows intuitively that the support of others, working, communicating with others, doing things together - whether it's your ‘naughty days', or whether it's something more serious like my subject today - makes you feel better. Together, we do better, as well as feel better and it is interesting that that intuitive sense, what is it that makes us feel good and better and engaged and happy and fulfilled, now is being backed up by evidence. There is a growing evidence-base and studies showing that community participation on various levels is a key element to an individual's sense of wellbeing and to the state of the health of the whole community. Well-connected communities with strong social networks, (exemplified by the cheers and the sense of engagement, and involvement I have heard and felt in this hall this morning), are more likely to benefit from lower crime figures, better health, higher educational achievement for successive generations, and better economic growth.
A recent report by the National Rural Health Alliance, identified a mutual dependence and synergy between healthy individuals, regions and health services. People are likely to be more healthy in regions that provide jobs, facilities and services. Connections between individuals are health promoting as well as community building. Healthy people are able to respond well to the physical, biological, mental and social challenges that confront us all during our lives. The challenge is in responding and servicing needs in ways that suit, are adapted to, and responsive to the needs of rural and remote areas and that will help create employment, income, and social connections.
We can overcome ignorance through the sharing of information and referrals to the experts and best sources of information. We can overcome isolation by lowering barriers and asking for help and advice, by reaching out to others. We can advocate for a better outcomes in terms of securing resources for health and other services by banding together and speaking with a united voice, lobbying your representatives.
All these things are well understood by the women working for West Moreton Women's health and community health service. I know from everything that I have read that you are deeply committed to what you do and I doubt that you need any additional motivation or inspiration to continue your vital work for women. However, I do think that we need ongoing efforts, ongoing campaigns to raise awareness of the health issues that I've talked about today. And beyond that broad awareness, there should be greater awareness and recognition, specifically, of the contribution that these community health services are making, of the changes you are bringing about in the lives of so many women - and through them, their families and communities.
And so today, I want to thank and congratulate them on their achievements, urge them to maintain their commitment and urge others in the community - especially the women here today - to ensure that the wonderful services and support you offer are made known to everyone, so that even more women's lives can be touched and improved, improving not only your own health and wellbeing, and the health and the wellbeing of the women who share the space in which you live, but the health and wellbeing of all Queensland.
Have a wonderful day and celebration of International Women's Day.