In late May 2026, the Australian Government launched its first ever national perimenopause and menopause campaign. The campaign is called Could This Be Perimenopause? and the name itself says something. For too many women, the answer to that question came years too late, if at all.
The campaign was developed in response to a 2024 Senate inquiry which found that women were routinely being dismissed, misdiagnosed, or left to piece together information on their own. Minister for Women Senator Katy Gallagher said menopause should not come as a surprise, but for too long, silence and stigma have left too many women without the information they needed. That silence has carried a real cost.
This blog is a local guide to what has changed, what it means, and how Sandstone Healthcare Yeerongpilly can help.
Perimenopause and menopause: what is actually happening
Menopause is the final menstrual period, confirmed after 12 consecutive months without bleeding, with a normal spread of age 45 to 55 and an average of 51 years in Australia. But the transition leading up to it (perimenopause) is where most women first notice something has shifted. Perimenopause usually begins in the 40s, though it can start earlier, and typically lasts four to six years, sometimes longer.
The Australasian Menopause Society (AMS) describes perimenopause as a time of hormonal change that begins when periods start becoming irregular, or when symptoms first appear. The AMS perimenopause factsheet, available through the AMS consumer resource hub, outlines the full range of what women may experience during this transition.
And that range is broader than most people expect. Hot flushes and night sweats are the best known symptoms, but a 2026 article in the Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) by Spencer and Newman describes the full picture: sleep disturbance, mood changes, cognitive changes including brain fog, genitourinary symptoms, joint pain, changes in libido, and a general loss of vitality. The article notes that approximately 75% of women will experience symptoms due to menopausal hormone changes, and around 25% have symptoms that impact severely on daily life.
The reason perimenopause is so often missed is that these symptoms rarely arrive with a label. They look like work stress, poor sleep, anxiety, or simply getting older. The national campaign website acknowledges this directly. Symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can overlap with those of other medical conditions, which is exactly why a conversation with a GP matters.
The cost of the silence
The 2024 Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into perimenopause and menopause documented what many women already knew: that healthcare professionals had significant gaps in their knowledge, that women were frequently dismissed, and that the absence of national clinical guidelines had left care inconsistent and often inadequate.
Women described being told their symptoms were stress or anxiety. Some spent years cycling through appointments without anyone connecting their experience to the menopause transition. The AJGP article by Spencer and Newman is frank about this, in that women will often present at the end of their tether with an extensive list of symptoms, and it is crucial they feel heard. The authors describe the menopause consultation as likely to unfold over several sessions, and frame that as an expectation worth setting early.
The national clinical guidelines for perimenopause and menopause are currently in development. They are Australia’s first, and their development was itself a direct response to the Senate inquiry findings. Their absence until now is part of the same story of silence.
What has changed in 2025 and 2026
Since the Senate inquiry, several practical changes have followed. From 1 July 2025, Medicare now covers dedicated menopause and perimenopause health assessments under MBS items 695 (for GPs) and 19000 (for prescribed medical practitioners). In the months since, nearly 105,000 women have accessed one of these assessments. New PBS listings for menopausal hormone therapies have supported 430,000 women to access treatments at substantially reduced cost, saving more than $70 million collectively.
The national campaign, launched in late May 2026, is running across television, cinema, digital and social media, and regional press through to December 2026. Its website at health.gov.au/perimenopause brings together evidence-based information, personal stories, and practical resources — including a symptom checklist that women can bring to their GP appointment to help guide the conversation.
The campaign is primarily aimed at women aged 35 to 55. That lower age boundary is deliberate as perimenopause can begin earlier than most women expect, and the sooner women have good information, the better placed they are to seek the right support.
What a menopause appointment involves
A menopause consultation is not a single-issue appointment. According to the AJGP article by Spencer and Newman, it encompasses menstrual pattern, symptom assessment, current and prior treatments, general health including cardiovascular and bone health, past medical history, relevant examinations, and preventive screening including cervical screening, mammography, bowel screening, and bone density where appropriate. It is also an opportunity to discuss future health risk, because menopause changes the risk profile for cardiovascular disease and bone loss in ways that are worth planning for.
The article makes a point worth stating plainly: women lose an average of 10% of their bone mass in the first five years after menopause, and bone loss continues at around 1% per year thereafter. Cardiovascular risk also climbs as the protective effect of oestrogen on the vascular system diminishes. A good menopause consultation is not just about managing today’s symptoms; it is also about setting the groundwork for healthy ageing.
Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is described in the AJGP article as the first-line pharmacological treatment for symptomatic women without contraindications. It has robust safety data for women who begin MHT within the first 10 years of menopause because drugs have changed just as our acceptance and response to this condition have been updated. Non-hormonal options also exist for women who cannot or prefer not to use MHT. What is right for each woman depends on her history, her symptoms, and her goals, which is precisely why the consultation itself matters.
For general information, the Australasian Menopause Society provides evidence-based consumer resources and printable factsheets, and their consumer resource hub covers perimenopause in detail. The national campaign website at health.gov.au/perimenopause is also a sound starting point. The clinical information on that site was developed with experts and informed by lived experience.
What this means at Sandstone Healthcare Yeerongpilly
The campaign points women toward information. The GP appointment is where information becomes a plan.
At Sandstone Healthcare Yeerongpilly, Dr Julie O’Brien, Dr Sitha Adriana, Dr Kathleen Poon, and Dr Maddy Payne all bring a strong interest in women’s health across the lifespan, including the perimenopause and menopause transition. Their approach to these consultations is the kind the AJGP describes as essential, taking the time to understand the full picture, allowing women to feel heard, and working through the complexity that this stage of life often brings. This frequently occurs across several appointments rather than trying to resolve everything at once. We may both appreciate the data you bring to the table which can be collected between appointments once a plan has been started.
You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis. You do not need to have an explanation ready. If something has shifted and you are not sure what it is, that is enough of a reason to start the conversation. The perimenopause and menopause Medicare assessments are now available, and our GPs are here to help you use them well.
Further Reading: Trusted Australian Resources
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2026). Could This Be Perimenopause? National Menopause and Perimenopause Campaign. health.gov.au/perimenopause
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2026). Delivering the first national menopause campaign for Australian women. health.gov.au
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2025). Milestone for Australia’s first national clinical guidelines for perimenopause and menopause. health.gov.au
- Senate Community Affairs References Committee. (2024). Issues related to perimenopause and menopause. Parliament of Australia. aph.gov.au
- Spencer, R. & Newman, A. (2026). The menopause consultation. Australian Journal of General Practice, 55(4). racgp.org.au/ajgp
- Australasian Menopause Society. (2026). Consumer resources and factsheets. menopause.org.au and AMS consumer resource hub
- Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, Australasian Menopause Society & Monash University. (2023). The impact of symptoms attributed to menopause by Australian women. National Women’s Health Survey. jeanhailes.org.au
- Medicare Benefits Schedule. (2025). Items 695 and 19000 — Menopause and perimenopause health assessment. mbs.health.gov.au
