Blog

What happened to the Pap Smear?

There’s been a significant change to the way we screen for cervical cancer in Australia. It’s more accurate and we’ll need to do the test less often.

Since December 2017, the Pap Smear has been replaced with the Cervical Screening Test. It is an exciting development for a few reasons and alongside the vaccine for HPV could set us on the path to eliminate cervical cancer in Australia.

Public hospitals should provide women’s health services

Abortion is legal in Tasmania but accessing the service, particularly a surgical abortion, can be a problem.  

Now is not the time to limit people’s access to telehealth services

Recent decisions by the Australian Government have potentially negative consequences for women, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Here’s how. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Government acted quickly to broaden the Medicare Benefits Schedule around telehealth services, allowing GPs and other health professionals to use Medicare item numbers for new patients.

Health, Poverty and the Corona Supplement

The Federal Government is moving to change the JobSeeker payment from $550 to $250 a fortnight. This supplement should not be cut back.

Before this supplement, the payment for a single, unemployed person with no dependents was $565.70 per fortnight – far below the poverty line.

Telehealth – virtually impossible?

It has long been said that telehealth is a great way of getting our health needs met, especially in rural communities. But let’s face it, our health care professionals didn’t use it and we didn’t like the thought of it. Then COVID happened.

The Impact of Coming Out of Lockdown

We’re living through an extraordinary social experiment. Over the last couple of months up to one third of the world’s population has been in lockdown or quarantine. THAT is a story to tell our grandchildren. (‘YES NANNA! I was there, remember?’)

Why are women more at risk from poker machines?

By Margie Law

Margie is a senior policy analyst at Anglicare Tasmania’s Social Action and Research Centre. She has been researching and advocating on gambling policy for 20 years.

Why are women more vulnerable than men to poker machines?

Are vulvas really too rude for pictures?

The most common cosmetic surgeries are is on breasts, noses, eyelids and stomachs. Would it surprise you to learn that vulvas are also increasingly being subjected to cosmetic surgery?

Reusable Menstrual Products

The GST was removed from most menstrual products in January 2019.  This is not before time, as it has been estimated that if you menstruate from about 13 years of age until 51, your period is likely to cost you around $19,000. [i]

But while the financial cost for women may have improved slightly, there is a greater cost to the environment.

Women at greater risk of harm from Pokies

Here’s another way that women are different than men; we’re at greater risk of being harmed by poker machines. We’re more likely to be harmed later in life, and we take longer to recover from gambling problems.