Inquiry into Women's Pain

Women face real and enduring challenges when seeking care and support for pain.

Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of girls and women than men around the world; however, women are less likely to receive treatment. Research has also shown that women generally experience more recurrent pain, more severe pain, and longer-lasting pain than men.

Medical gender bias routinely leads to a denial of pain and therefore, lack of pain relief and associated treatment for women. This occurs for various health conditions, including cardiovascular, neurological, reproductive, and autoimmune conditions.

As part of the Women’s Health and Wellbeing Program, the Inquiry into Women's Pain aims to address the challenges faced by girls and women seeking pain care. The Inquiry will provide recommendations to inform improved models of care and service delivery for Victorian girls and women experiencing pain in the future.

We heard from thousands of people consulted broadly through:

1. Written submissions from consumers, clinicians, and health service organisations from 30 January to 31 July 2024.
2. Engage Victoria survey from 28 March to 31 July 2024 hearing from those with lived experience of pain, and healthcare workers who provide pain services, care and treatment.

Focus groups and community forums are ongoing in mid-2024 with healthcare workers, people with lived and living experience of pain, and key stakeholders.

All information gathered during the consultation will inform the Inquiry’s recommendations.

Inquiry into Women's Pain scope

The Inquiry will report on Victorian girls and women 12 years of age and over with living and lived experience of pain and consider opportunities to improve access to treatment and care. It will:

• provide an opportunity for girls and women from across our community to share their experiences of pain and pain management in their own words and for these experiences to be heard and acknowledged
• listen to the experiences of girls, women and clinicians to identify the barriers and enablers when accessing care, treatment and services for pain conditions
• describe the impact of the current service delivery system on care for pain conditions
• identify opportunities to improve the care, treatment and services for pain conditions
• consider appropriate models of care, service delivery frameworks, workforce skill mix and other areas requiring change
• translate research and evidence-based interventions that address unwarranted sex and gender variations and improve the equity of outcomes relating to the access and efficacy of pain management.

Safer Care Victoria, the Victorian Women's Health Advisory Council, and the Pain Inquiry Subcommittee will lead the delivery of this inquiry.

The Inquiry into Women’s Pain will develop recommendations for the Victorian Women's Health Advisory Council by December 2024. The final report and recommendations of the Inquiry will be published in early 2025.

The Inquiry report will include recommendations to inform improved models of care and service delivery for Victorian girls and women experiencing pain in the future.

A note on language used

Language is an effective tool for changing community attitudes and promoting inclusion. We recognise that words are powerful and can have different meanings for different people.

We know language is constantly changing and are working on refining the definition through a robust consultation process.

Any references to a woman, women, or girls are intended to include anyone who may experience similar health issues or gender-based discrepancies in care. This includes those assigned females at birth and anyone who identifies as a woman, though they may have a different sex at birth.