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ACCESS is a consumer-controlled, not-for-profit charity, providing whole of life support, education and advocacy for those who experience difficulties conceiving. ACCESS is an effective national voice and provides strong leadership through advocacy with policy makers in state and federal governments.
In a recent campaign we mobilised the ACCESS community in an effort to stop the Health Insurance Amendment (Safety Net) Bill 2015 from passing in the Senate. It would have cut the Safety Net cap from 300% to 150%, making fertility treatment unaffordable for many Australians, denying them their last chance for a child. It would have also impacted others, including those needing oncology and psychiatric health care.
In less than three days, thousands of people emailed key senators asking them to vote down the Bill. Unable to reach agreement with the Greens and Labor senators, the Health Minister pulled the bill. You can see media reports and comments from many relieved people on the ACCESS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Access-Australia-fighting-for-families-139771856113076/?ref=hl
One in six couples will need medical help to achieve a pregnancy. Despite these numbers, the difficulties we face when trying to conceive can leave us feeling extremely isolated.
This is made worse because infertility is a taboo subject. Society has difficulty in dealing with these sad experiences. With the emotional roller coaster of IVF treatment, friends falling pregnant or the pain of shattered dreams, people living with infertility need to know that they're not alone.
ACCESS seeks to alleviate the pain and isolation in several ways including our website: www.access.org.au with personal stories people have shared. Information and education is freely available through fact sheets on emotional and medical aspects of infertility at the OUR SUPPORT tab on the website. People can also connect on the Access Australia Facebook page. We would like to develop a forum on the website so people can connect directly, in a private space.
ACCESS also reaches out to young adults, so they are aware of the need to protect their reproductive health.
ACCESS Patron, Candice Thum (nee Reed), Australia’s first IVF baby, and fellow iVFling Rebecca Featherstone Jelen, an ACCESS director, are Australian mums who were born through IVF. They want their children to receive sound information on reproductive health and fertility, not just how conception occurs and how to avoid it.
So they have launched a national campaign aimed to raise awareness and education of fertility. It is called: 'Fertility Matters - know your fertility inside out'. Visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fertilitymatters15?fref=ts and their website: http://www.ivflings.org.