The newly established Ministerial Expert Panel on Women's Health, focusing on women's cardiovascular health, held its inaugural meeting at Parliament House, marking an important step towards improving heart and vascular health for women across Australia.
Cardiovascular disease remains the second leading cause of illness and death for women in Australia, accounting for around 1 in 4 female deaths in 2022.
More than 500,000 women are living with heart, stroke and vascular conditions, yet women's cardiovascular health has historically been under-recognised and under-researched.
Women can experience cardiovascular disease differently to men, often with symptoms that are less widely recognised. This contributes to delayed diagnosis and treatment, increasing the risk of poorer health outcomes.
Women are also consistently underrepresented in cardiovascular clinical trials, limiting the evidence base needed to deliver sex- and gender-responsive care.
The expert panel brings together clinicians, researchers, advocates and women with lived experience, providing government with expert, evidence-based advice informed by the latest research, clinical practice and consumer perspectives.
A key focus of the panel's work will be targeted stakeholder engagement, including two national roundtables.
- The first roundtable will centre on women's experience, focusing on early detection, diagnosis and early intervention for women living with cardiovascular disease.
- The second roundtable will bring together clinicians to examine the realities of delivering cardiovascular care for women and identify practical solutions to improve quality, safety and consistency of care.
The expert panel will continue to meet regularly over the coming year as it develops advice to inform future policy and system improvements. The next meeting is scheduled for April 2026.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister White:
"This first expert panel meeting was an important first step to focus on how we can improve heart health outcomes for women.
"I thank the members for the time, care, expertise and passion they brought to this first meeting.
"For too long, women's symptoms and experiences have been overlooked or dismissed.
"This is the beginning of an important piece of work to identify the gaps that exist in diagnosis, treatment and care so we can save lives."
