Heart health for women will be the first focus of the Australian Government's new Ministerial Expert Panel on Women's Health.
This Expert Panel will work with professionals with a range of expertise and peak organisations that support women's cardiovascular health to identify practical ways to improve outcomes for women, girls and gender diverse people.
The work of the Panel will aim to empower women to take time and seek the care they need for their heart and vascular health at all stages of life.
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of illness and death for women in Australia, approximately 1 in 4 female deaths in 2022 were due to cardiovascular disease.
More than half a million women are living with conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, but we know risk for these conditions is largely under-recognised in women.
In 2021 nearly 40,000 women had a heart attack, unstable angina or a stroke and 235,000 hospitalisations in 2021-22 were women with cardiovascular disease.
Women often experience different symptoms to men, including during emergencies which can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment, under-recognition of heart disease or stroke and poorer health outcomes due to the lack of knowledge in the community about the symptoms a woman may experience.
The Panel will be supported by stakeholder roundtables to engage across the sector including women from across the country that have experienced changes to their cardiovascular health, health professionals and health stakeholders.
Advice from experts with careers dedicated to women's cardiovascular health will help make sure policy is informed by the latest clinical evidence, research and lived experience.
The Panel's establishment continues the Australian Government's commitment to women's health and builds on the landmark Women's Health Package, which is improving access to care for women across the country, including making more contraceptives, IVF medicines and endometriosis treatments more affordable through the PBS.
The government has also expanded the network of endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain clinics, and strengthened menopause support, taking action on areas of women's health that have too often been overlooked or dismissed.
The Ministerial Expert Panel on Women's Health is expected to meet for the first time in Autumn 2026.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister White:
"Women often put the needs of others first - families, careers, communities - while their own health comes last. Heart disease is frequently misunderstood as a male health issue, yet it remains one of the leading health risks for women.
"The message I want Australian women to hear is that we know your heart works for everyone else - it's time to protect it for you.
"Cardiovascular disease in women is frequently under-recognised due to differences in symptom presentation compared to men.
"What is often labelled "atypical" is, in fact, typical for women. Failure to recognise these symptoms contributes to missed or delayed diagnoses.
"Priority work for the Expert Panel will be to identify ways we can improve heart health diagnosis, treatment and care for women across Australia.
Quotes attributable to Professor Linda Worrall-Carter, Her Heart Founder & CEO:
"Heart disease remains one of the biggest health threats facing Australian women. Almost one woman dies every hour - around 20 women every day - yet awareness of this risk remains far too low.
"Women have been significantly under-represented in cardiovascular research and clinical trials, often making up only around 25 percent of participants. This means many diagnostic tools and treatment guidelines have historically been based largely on male data.
"The establishment of this Expert Panel is an important step forward. Bringing together clinicians, researchers, advocates and women with lived experience will help ensure women's heart health is better recognised in policy and care"
Expert panel membership -
- The Hon Rebecca White MP (Chair), Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, Assistant Minister for Women
- Professor Sanjyot Vagholkar, General Practitioner, MQ Health General Practice, Discipline lead of Primary Care in the Doctor of Medicine Program, Macquarie University
- Cindy McCall, Consumer Advocate
- Professor Kate Denton, Head, Cardiovascular Disease Program, Monash Biomedical Discovery Institute
- Associate Professor Aunty Vicki Wade, First Nations Principal Research Fellow, Menzies School of Health Research
- Senior representatives from organisations including Her Heart, The Heart Foundation, Stroke Foundation and The George Institute for Global Health
