Reaching for Health The Australian women’s health movement and public policy Reaching for Health The Australian women’s health movement and public policy Gwendolyn Gray Jamieson Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Gray Jamieson, Gwendolyn. Title: Reaching for health [electronic resource] : the Australian women’s health movement and public policy / Gwendolyn Gray Jamieson. ISBN: 9781921862687 (ebook) 9781921862670 (pbk.) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Birth control--Australia--History. Contraception--Australia--History. Sex discrimination against women--Australia--History. Women’s health services--Australia--History. Women--Health and hygiene--Australia--History. Women--Social conditions--History. Dewey Number: 362.1982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2012 ANU E Press Contents Preface . vii Acknowledgments . ix Abbreviations . xi Introduction . 1 1 . Concepts, Concerns, Critiques . 23 2 . With Only Their Bare Hands . 57 3 . Infrastructure Expansion: 1980s onwards . 89 4 . Group Proliferation and Formal Networks . 127 5 . Working Together for Health . 155 6 . Women’s Reproductive Rights: Confronting power . 179 7 . Policy Responses: States and Territories . 215 8 . Commonwealth Policy Responses . 245 9 . Explaining Australia’s Policy Responses . 279 10 . A Glass Half Full… . 305 Appendix 1: Time line of key events, 1960–2011 . 327 Appendix 2: Women interviewed for this book . 341 Bibliography . 343 Index . 389 v Preface In sifting through boxes and filing cabinets of material collected for this book, I am struck by how much attitudes towards women, and attitudes of women themselves, have changed since the 1970s. The argument that women are not genetically equipped to participate in public-sector life is not often heard today, for example. Where possible, therefore, I attempt to create a sense of the atmosphere in which the women’s health movement emerged by including selected anecdotes and quotations. The passion and commitment of early Australian women’s health movement activists and the extraordinary efforts they made to improve the circumstances of women’s lives and to fill gaps in service provision can only be understood, I believe, in the context of the times. The intensity of the critiques they developed was a product of their inferior position, the scarcity of health information, the insensitivity of some health professionals and the gaps in available health services, leaving many needs unmet. It is impossible within the pages of a single volume to document more than a fraction of the work done by members of the movement. Similarly, only a brief outline can be given of the influence of the movement on public policy in nine jurisdictions over 40 years. Moreover, although I have interviewed scores of women and collected mountains of documents, there is a wealth of experience that I have been unable to record and there are parts of the story about which little is now known. Space also prevents me from naming the women and the handful of men who have played important roles. The text necessarily contains reference to a few women who carried out crucial work or held key positions. Such a mention should not, however, suggest a more important role or a greater contribution than women not mentioned at all. Indeed, so many women have been involved in so many arenas that it would be impossible to calculate individual contribution. All the women who were interviewed for this book either formally or informally are listed in Appendix 2. Where no reference is provided, the information presented derives from interviews or from personal involvement in the events described. One of the difficult decisions I have had to make in writing is whether to use the past or the present tense when discussing the movement’s ideas and the criticisms that developed. None of the problems that feminists identified in the early 1970s has disappeared, although some are less pressing than they were. For example, information about women’s bodies and women’s health is far more readily available now and medical attitudes are less patronising. Serious concerns remain, however, and the social health perspective that the movement vii Reaching for Health has promoted since the early days is not yet central in mainstream debate. The past tense, therefore, is often inappropriate. Mixed time frames are therefore used but, try as I might to achieve stylistic elegance, even the casual reader will notice an ungainly ‘wobbling’ between tenses. At the outset, my involvement in the Australian women’s health movement must be declared. Since the mid-1980s, I have been an active member, first, of the ACT Women’s Health Network and then of the Australian Women’s Health Network (AWHN). I represented the ACT Women’s Health Network on the Australian Capital Territory’s Women’s Health Advisory Committee (WHAC) from 1989 until 1996. From the early 1990s until 2008, I was a member of the Board and sometime President of Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT and represented the Australian Capital Territory on the Board of Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia (SH&FPA) from 2002 until 2008. I was a member of the interim management committee of AWHN in the early 1990s when the constitution was written and the organisation was incorporated, Convenor from 1995 to 1998, Deputy Convenor from 1998 until 2008 and Convenor again from 2008 onwards. viii Acknowledgments There are many people to thank for their assistance, support and encouragement during the production of this book—so many that I am afraid some will be overlooked. First and foremost, I thank the scores of women in the Australian women’s health movement and in political parties, trade unions and bureaucracies who so generously gave their time to talk with me, formally and informally. Those interviewed are listed in Appendix 2. Women supported my research in many other ways as well. They provided me with contacts, made appointments for me with key policymakers and activists in their regions, gathered local women together to facilitate group discussion and, in some cases, even offered me a bed for the night. As well as agreeing to be interviewed, women gave me access to written materials and pointed me in the direction of relevant sources. Many have been willing to talk to me on the telephone, and answer follow- up questions sent by email. These women include Esther Alvares, Morven Andrews, Moira Carmody, Karin Cheyne, Cathy Crawford, Denele Crozier, Glynis Flower, Vig Geddes, Robyn Gregory, Jocelyn Hanson, Maree Hawken, Lekkie Hopkins, Judith Ion, Libby Lloyd, Toni Makkai, Lynnley McGrath, Roxanne McMurray, Heather Nancarrow, Cathy North, Anne O’Byrne, Andrea Shoebridge, Mandy Stringer, Tammy Vu, Veronica Wensing, Karen Willis and Faye Worner. Researching the history of the movement has been a socially rewarding experience. I have been privileged to meet many wonderful women and make new friends. Dorothy Broom, Helen Keleher and Marian Sawer read the full draft manuscript and I thank all three for their invaluable comments and suggestions and for their friendship and support. Marian Sawer has been a wellspring of ideas, support and encouragement throughout the writing process. People who gave me excellent feedback on parts of the manuscript include Morven Andrews, Marilyn Beaumont, Justine Cairns, Denele Crozier, David Denham, Carolyn Frohmader, Peter Howe, Lynnley McGrath, Adele Murdolo, Anne O’Byrne and Kerreen Reiger. Kerreen Reiger gave me great assistance with the first half of Chapter 6, including providing documents, some of which were still in press at the time of writing. Marilyn Beaumont generously gave me a copy of her extensive notes on the four-year process through which abortion was decriminalised in Victoria. My thanks go to those who helped me with photographs, including Tony Adams, Dorothy Broom, Peter Howe, Gail Radford and Romaine Rutnam. Tracey Wing, photographer extraordinaire, combed through her files, freely sharing her women’s health collection with me. Ann Pettigrew, Genevieve Ebeck and Bridget Gilmour-Walsh volunteered to edit the manuscript—acts of generosity ix Reaching for Health well beyond the bounds of friendship and filial duty. Peter Howe fixed leaky taps, regained control of errant formatting and supplied me with relevant press clippings. Staff at the Australian National Library cheerfully and efficiently helped me find sources and locate obscure references. I thank Duncan Beard and the staff of ANU E Press for their assistance and cooperation and the ANU Publications Subsidy Committee for its grant. The book was written during my time as an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Politics and International Relations, Research School of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Social Sciences, at The Australian National University. I thank the University for supporting my work and providing congenial surroundings in which to write. x Abbreviations ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ABSP Alternative Birthing Services Program ACCHS Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service ACM