A regional Victorian health organisation wants more support for sexual and reproductive health services in the Grampians, with women having no choice but to travel for early medical abortions.
Newly-released data collated by the Victorian Women's Health Atlas showed during 2021 the Grampians had the lowest regional rate of early medical abortion providers in general practitioner and pharmacy settings.
Six local government areas (LGAs) in the region, including Ararat, Pyrenees, Moorabool, West Wimmera, Hindmarsh, and Yarriambiack, had no provision for early medical abortion.
This is despite just over 33,000 women living across all six LGAs, according to 2021 Census data.
Women's Health Grampians sexual health advisor Shannon Hill said stigma continued to stymie service access for early medical abortion.
"There's the stigma of, 'I don't want to be the doctor that provides something like abortions' … particularly where they can be a doctor that is more obvious in a small town," she said.
Another barrier is the extra training required to offer the service at a practice or clinic.
"It may feel like an extra that feels like it's too much [to organise]," Ms Hill said.
For municipalities in the Grampians that do have service provision for early medical abortions, such as Ballarat, Hepburn and Horsham, the data shows demand outweighs supply.
'More work to be done'
In a statement, a Victorian government spokesperson said the state had "always been a leader in supporting women to achieve optimal sexual and reproductive health outcomes", but acknowledged there was "more work to be done".
"That's why we will deliver a package of initiatives to finally give women's health the focus and funding it deserves by ensuring all Victorian women, no matter where they live, including regional communities like Ballarat, can access the dedicated health services they need," the spokesperson said.
"We'll continue to work with local health services, including GPs and pharmacies, towards increasing access to early medical abortion and ensure termination services can meet the needs of women across the Grampians region."
Grampians Health, the region's public healthcare provider, was approached for comment.
Demand for long-acting contraception
The data showed that limited access to sexual and reproductive health services in the Grampians extended to long-term contraception.
Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) and Implanon are small contraceptive devices that both require a prescription.
In the Grampians LGAs of Pyreenees, Yarriambiack, Golden Plains, and Northern Grampians, the rate of patients seeking Implanon was nearly double the rate of local service provision in 2021.
For IUDs, demand was also unmatched by local services in Ararat, Hepburn, Golden Plains, Pyrenees, and Northern Grampians.
An eight-year strategy
The Victorian government in September 2022 published its women's sexual and reproductive health plan for 2022 to 2030.
One of the eight-year strategy's key goals is to ensure "Victorian women, girls and gender diverse people are supported to access high-quality, safe and respectful sexual and reproductive health services that are free from stigma, racism and discrimination".
Measures taken to improve access to services include the 2018 launch of the 1800 My Options service, which gives information about hundreds of women's health providers by phone or online.
Ms Hill said while the overall government strategy was welcome, further funding was needed in the upcoming state budget to improve and expand access to abortions in public hospitals in the Grampians.
"We'd love to see the scope of those [public] hospitals being able to provide early medical and surgical abortions and long-acting contraception to stop the need for women in our region to go to Melbourne for those services," she said.
"We're having great conversations with our hospitals, and I feel that things are moving, but it's just incredibly slow."
The push for change comes on the same day recommendations from the senate inquiry into universal access to reproductive healthcare will be released.
As part of the inquiry, women from across Australia shared their stories.
