Ms Ethel Buckley:

I welcome the focus on women in their 50s and over because much of the discussion on gender equality focuses on younger women. There are specific issues that affect women in their 50s, as Senator O'Reilly mentioned. We have been trying to draw attention to and encourage the adoption of policies on menopause. This is often conflated with what the Senator described. Women come to a certain age or stage in their careers where their children might be reared and out of the house and it then falls to them to care for elderly parents. That is our experience with our women members. They raise this issue with us constantly.

It is often conflated with another change in women's lives and bodies, namely, menopause. There is a silencing of women of that age by many parts of society, so I am glad that this issue has been raised. We would welcome a greater focus on women of that age and the issue of menopause in the workplace.