7 days ago
Meet the women making Australian workplaces more menopause-friendly
Liz Bonner has a lot on her plate.
She cares for her mother, teenage kids and two older siblings with Parkinson's disease, and she has a demanding job.
She's the President of the Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association and the CEO of the Cloverdale Community Centre in Geelong's disadvantaged northern suburbs.
On top of all this, she's perimenopausal. And it hasn't been easy.
"I literally thought I was going crazy. My mental health hit a low that I'd never expected," Liz says.
Her experience is similar to many other women with caring responsibilities who work through menopause at a high point in their careers.
She's part of a growing push to make workplaces more menopause friendly.
That can mean providing flexible working arrangements, access to quiet rooms, adjustable air conditioning and encouraging open conversations about menopause.
Liz says openness and honesty about menopause is vital.
"I had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister before the election and I said I'm going to talk about passionate topics and I'm probably going to cry and I can't help that, but I'm not embarrassed by it either."
She extends that honesty to her clients, colleagues and staff. She's also up-front about being diagnosed with ADHD while she was dealing with menopause and her challenging home life.
"A lot of our workforce is older women. So, a lot of people come into our sector who have had careers in other vocations," she says.
"It's these wonderful older women who have a real heart for community and as a result we have to be flexible.
"And we largely serve female participants in our centres as well, so we live and breathe menopause. We live and breathe women's health."
Through workplace flexibility, candid discussions and support, Liz reckons she works at the most menopause-friendly workplace in Australia.
That's music to the ears of Grace Molloy.
Grace didn't know what was happening when she first had menopause symptoms, so she started the workplace accreditation company Menopause Friendly Australia to raise awareness.
"I was shocked that I didn't know anything about 'peri' [perimenopause] when I was in it, because my dad was an obstetrician, and my mum was a midwife, so we talked about women's health around the dinner table," she says.
"And I also did a Master of Nursing, and I didn't learn anything about it at all in my nursing degree. For me, it was like many women, a bit of a struggle."
So, she partnered with Menopause Friendly Accreditation UK, where more than 125 workplaces have been accredited.
"I just felt that I was teary all the time. I was emotional. I had physical symptoms as well, like heart palpitations. And for me, it was more of the psychological symptoms that were the most challenging," she says.
"So that's why I started Menopause Friendly Australia because I don't want anyone else to struggle through this feeling confused and alone."
So far, only four Australian companies are accredited as officially menopause friendly: Deloitte Australia, AngloGold Ashanti Australia, St John WA and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
But 38 other companies are currently working to gain accreditation including the Parliament of Victoria, the Commonwealth Bank, Melbourne Airport, BHP, Gippsland Lakes Complete Health, Sydney Water and City of Melbourne.
Accreditation involves meeting standards around culture, policies, training, communications and engagement, and the working environment.
The cost of accreditation varies depending on the number of employees in an organisation and if it's a small business or not-for-profit.
Last year unions told a senate inquiry into menopause and perimenopause that Australian women are leaving the workforce early because of a lack of menopause support.
It's been described by academics as a crisis for organisations employing women aged between 45 and 55 who decide to step away from leadership positions, go part time or retire early.
Macquarie University research shows 45 per cent of women retiring early list sickness or disability as the reason.
Not everyone has a difficult menopause.
Triggered by declining levels of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, it usually occurs between age 45 and 55.
The most commonly reported difficulties that menopausal women report at work include poor concentration, tiredness, poor memory, reduced confidence, feeling low or depressed.
Two years ago Australian-first research from Jean Hailes for Women's Health and Monash University warned against "catastrophising" menopause, particularly to sell goods and services.
Study co-author Sarah White said that could unintentionally erode women's resilience and stigmatise women as they approach midlife.
According to Jean Hailes, about 20 per cent of women have no symptoms, 60 per cent have mild to moderate symptoms and 20 per cent have symptoms that significantly interfere with their daily life.
Jeanette Anderson works with Liz Bonner at Cloverdale Community Centre.
"I was probably quite lucky in that I didn't have extreme symptoms. I can honestly say it didn't interrupt me at all," she says.
