Summary
Sexual and reproductive health is important for general health and wellbeing. It affects all of us, at every stage of life. It covers physical and mental health as well as social wellbeing and education and workforce opportunities.
The Australian Government provided funding in the 2024–25 Federal Budget for the AIHW to develop a National Sexual and Reproductive Health Monitoring Framework (the Framework), a data strategy, and to develop reporting. Currently, there is no national source of data that allows sexual and reproductive health and care in Australia to be comprehensively understood.
Having timely and reliable information on sexual and reproductive health will help to inform policy and improve health outcomes. This is important for policymakers, service delivery planning, health service providers, researchers, peak bodies, advocates and consumers.
The AIHW released a draft of the Framework and the Data Strategy for consultation in 2025. The feedback was reviewed and incorporated in this final Data Strategy. The Framework covers the full scope of sexual and reproductive health.
This companion data strategy initially focuses on the following 5 priority topics:
- menstrual disorders, symptoms and related conditions (including endometriosis)
- contraception
- pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation (including miscarriage)
- termination of pregnancy (abortion)
- perimenopause and menopause.
These were selected based on current policy priorities, recent government inquiries and on areas where the largest national data gaps were identified.
Many additional topics were raised during the public consultation and stakeholder engagement processes. These are not excluded from the program for this work. Rather, the initial scope of work is only the start, reflecting a staged and pragmatic approach to data development. The Data Strategy will evolve over time to reflect the dynamic nature of sexual and reproductive health for all people in Australia, subject to resourcing, feasibility, the evolving data landscape and future government priorities. The Framework and Data Strategy have been designed to support additional priority topics to be added in future or progressed by other organisations, including where complementary data collections, research programs or reporting arrangements already exist.
This data strategy sets out a plan to collect and report sexual and reproductive health data. It proposes to improve the quality and availability of this information in 6 ways:
- Use existing data sources and collections: priority will be given to maximising the use of existing national data collections wherever feasible through enhanced analysis, and improved disaggregation for priority populations.
- Further develop existing or planned data collections: by collaborating with owners of existing data collections to add questions or modules to existing surveys, or data items to existing collections; develop data standards or improve data extraction from existing systems.
- Collate service-level data sources: aggregate state and territory health services data and other service-level data sources; collate measures and develop data standards where there are clear benefits and where they are supported by data providers.
- Use linked data assets: for in-depth analysis to undertake more complex and targeted analytical projects to answer complex questions about care pathways, patient journeys and sexual and reproductive health outcomes
- Establish new data collections: 4 new data collections are proposed (National Sexual and Reproductive Health Survey; National Pregnancy Loss Register; Sexual and Reproductive Health Pharmacy Data Collection; Health Care Provider Workforce Survey).
- Incorporate qualitative data: including case studies, and consumer and patient feedback.
The development of the Framework and Data Strategy is a discrete piece of work led by the AIHW in consultation with stakeholders. This strategy outlines a broad set of potential actions reflecting the scope and complexity of sexual and reproductive health data in Australia. It identifies priorities, opportunities and key considerations to inform future decision-making and support improved monitoring – not only by the AIHW and the Australian Government, but across the sector.
The actions presented are indicative and not exhaustive. Their value, priority and sequencing will be refined through ongoing consultation with subject matter experts, data custodians and stakeholders. The Data Strategy is designed to be flexible and to evolve over time to reflect changes in policy priorities, emerging evidence and the data landscape, including new or improved data sources.