There’s no harm in asking, right?
We don’t go in for “days” much at TMR, however keen the publicists are to spruik case studies for Hangnail Awareness Day and Benign Mole Appreciation Month.
But for the day that reminds us of the condition facing half of humanity – fine, we’ll make an exception. (Fellas, spare us the “When’s International Men’s Day?” line and we’ll spare you the equally tired “Every day” riposte.)
Obviously, the Back Page isn’t here to take the piss out of International Women’s Day or the improvements women are asking for under its banner – it’s the reality that’s a bit absurd.
Take the income test for the government’s paid parental leave scheme, which Rural Doctors Association of Australia president Dr Megan Belot drew attention to this morning.
This cheeky test measures only the birth mother’s income, not the household income, and puts paid leave out of bounds if she is earning more than $150,000 regardless of what else is – or isn’t – coming in.
The sexist assumption behind it is that the mother is not the household breadwinner, Dr Belot said.
“As a self-employed mother earning over $150,000, I am not eligible for any part of this assistance. Take my income out of the equation and my household income could drop to nothing.
“However if I earned less, even if my partner earned $1,000,000, I would get the entire amount. This would be despite my household income still being a million dollars!
“Women are disadvantaged enough by taking time out of the workforce to parent our children, without this extra financial hit for those professional, or higher-income-earning women who still really need the support.”
Given the lack of leave entitlements, employer super contributions etc., you would at least hope that female GPs’ base income tracks with their male counterparts’.
Not so fast!
Female GPs famously do more longer consults, including mental health and women’s health, which are underpaid by the MBS, whose rebate structure rewards a brisker pace.
So it’s no wonder a poll conducted by the RACGP asking what changes to general practice would most benefit women found better rebates for longer consults outstripped any other improvement by a stonking margin (though notably it’s the only option with a direct benefit to the GP rather than the public):
“As a woman and a GP, I completely understand why our members see support for longer consultations as the most pressing change needed in general practice to better serve women,” RACGP president Dr Karen Price said, adding that the pandemic had increased the complexity of many GP presentations.
“When it comes to women, we are seeing more and more coming forward with mental health concerns and anxiety and we know the pandemic also impacted on people experiencing violence. Many women also delayed GP appointments for ongoing health issues and chronic conditions, and avoided preventative health screening, which led to delayed diagnosis, worsening conditions.”
Dr Price doesn’t quite come out and say it, so allow the Back Page: properly remunerated longer consultations would benefit female GPs in particular, and would help counter some of the other imbalances they have to deal with – “higher income earning” or not.
Lady GPs, TMR salutes you.
