Women with endometriosis will be better supported by new workplace-specific material to help educate employers on the crippling condition.
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The new system, announced on Saturday, will be developed by Safe Work Australia to educate employers on the prevalence and impact of endometriosis, so that they are better-equipped to support employees suffering from endometriosis in the workplace.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the move addressed a key recommendation of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis.
“It will increase awareness and understanding of endometriosis among employers, allowing women to get better and more support,” he said.
Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer said that on average women with endometriosis could lose up to 11 hours per week of workplace productivity.
“With at least one in ten women of reproductive age in Australia suffering from endometriosis, it is important that this large part of the Australian workforce is supported in the workplace,” she said.
“These employees should feel understood, supported and comfortable to discuss their common chronic condition with their employer, and seek the support they need in order to embark upon or continue a productive and rewarding career.”
Amy Hayward, of Warrnambool, has struggled with the crippling condition for most of her life.
She said she was living on pain killers for nearly two years.
“When it gets really bad I can’t work,” she said.
“It feels like someone is constantly stabbing me in the stomach and I just want to crawl up into a ball. I can't move and I get really bad hot flushes - you just don't want to leave bed.”
Miss Hayward said the condition often left her feeling misunderstood.
“Not many people actually know about it and the impact it has on people,” she said.
“While working, people don’t understand what you are actually going through, both mentally and physically. I think it’s easy for people to down play it, they just refer to it as period pain but it’s much worse than that.”
Endometriosis is often misdiagnosed as a multitude of conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, appendicitis, colon cancer or even sexually transmitted infections.
Miss Hayward said she thought she had irritable bowel syndrome for 12 months until diagnostic laparoscopy surgery revealed she had the condition, which affects a woman's reproductive organs.
At just 16 years old she was told she would never have children.
Despite the year long wait Ms Hayward said she considered herself lucky, with some women waiting decades before receiving a diagnosis.
But after ten years and seven invasive surgeries, doctors at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne revealed Ms Hayward’s case was severe, but did not mean she was infertile.
“I ended up getting sent to Melbourne and they had one look at me and told me that I could have children,” Ms Hayward said.
“I spent ten years thinking I couldn’t have children. That was hard and I got depression because of what I went through.”
On Saturday, Ms Hayward announced that she was 20-weeks pregnant.
She said words couldn’t describe how she felt.
“After everything I’ve been through we are just over the moon and are very excited for the times ahead with the new addition.”
The federal government is also investing close to half a million dollars to educate nurses and doctors as part of $1 million set aside in the 2018-19 budget for improving awareness and education of endometriosis among the primary healthcare profession.
