Shaping the Future of Australian Women’s Health Research

Women, girls and gender diverse people have been systematically underrepresented in health and medical research, from preclinical studies to clinical trials, producing an evidence base that defaults to the male body. This white paper set out to define a research agenda supporting the National Women’s Health Strategy 2020–2030, but consultation showed that structural barriers in the research system, including biased funding models and limited diversity in leadership, would undermine any new agenda built on existing foundations. Drawing on a rapid scan of 2019–2024 Australian women’s health research, an online survey of 72 researchers and a stakeholder roundtable held in February 2025, the report instead presents a roadmap for system reform across four pillars: resourcing an integrated system, (re)defining women’s health, (re)empowering the community, and recognising and prioritising areas of need. Survey findings included that only 40% of respondents agreed research is driven by women’s lived experience. The report makes three recommendations: establish a national coordinating mechanism for women’s health research, embed the roadmap in the National Health and Medical Research Strategy, and develop indicators to monitor gender-responsive research practice.