On Saturday, March 1, menopausal medications Estrogel Pro, Estrogel, and Prometrium were made available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Before the medications were listed under the PBS, more than 100,000 women were paying around $650 a year.
Now, pension and concession cardholders will pay $7.70 a month, or for general patients, up to $31.60 a month.
Echuca personal trainer Sharon Briscoe said the subsidies will give more women access.
“This will make medications so much more accessible for all women that need menopausal medications,” she said.
“It is crazy to think that some women have suffered due to not being able to afford the medication. Why should women have to suffer due to financial constraints, when all women will experience menopause?”
Menopause occurs naturally when women's menstruation cycles stop and their reproductive hormones lessen.
Research shows that more than two-thirds of Australian women aged 45–64 who have reached menopause have struggled with menopausal symptoms.
One in four women also experience severe or prolonged menopausal symptoms that affect their quality of life and may require treatment.
The menopause medications help replace the lost hormones and reduce symptoms that interfere with daily life.
In 2024, Ms Briscoe ran a menopause information night to help local women understand the changes happening in their bodies and ways to work through it.
She said that while most women knew the symptoms, few women knew what hormonal changes happen.
When she began to go through menopause herself, she said she found there was a lack of information available.
“When I started to go through peri-menopause, I was astounded to discover that there is so little discussion and information regarding menopause for women to readily access,” she said.
“The symptoms are vast, extensive and each woman’s experience is different ... there are so many physical, psychological and emotional symptoms, to list them all would be mind-blowing to anyone that isn’t aware.
“Some women experience such severe symptoms that they have to give up their employment due to the effect it has on their job.”
Ms Briscoe now runs one-on-one menopause information sessions both in person and online as part of her personal training practice.
For more information, email shaz_mb@hotmail.com or call 0447 035 005
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