Health inequities by gender and sexuality in Australia: HSC PDHPE Equity and Health

Legacy syllabus. This page covers the former PDHPE Stage 6 syllabus (listed by NESA as PDHPE Stage 6 (2012)). The last PDHPE HSC exam was held in 2025. From the 2026 HSC, students sit Health and Movement Science 11-12 (2023) instead: see our HSC Health and Movement Science hub. Use this page only as background or for older revision material.

Australian health outcomes differ substantially by gender and sexuality. The patterns are not symmetrical - women, men, and LGBTIQ+ Australians experience different inequities, and individuals often sit at the intersection of multiple categories with compounding effects. This dot point covers the main patterns and the determinants.

Women's health

Where women experience inequity

Mental health. Australian women have higher 12-month prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders than men (Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey 2020-22). Self-harm and suicide attempt rates are higher; completed suicide rates are lower.

Reproductive and sexual health. Specific inequities including:

• Access to abortion remains variable by state, with rural and remote women facing the largest barriers.
• Endometriosis affects roughly 1 in 9 Australian women, with average diagnosis delay of 6-8 years.
• Period products and period leave policies are still being established in workplaces and education.

Cardiovascular disease

Women's cardiovascular disease is under-diagnosed and under-treated. Symptoms presenting differently than the "classic" male pattern lead to delayed diagnosis. Women are less likely to receive guideline-directed treatment after cardiac events.

Family and intimate partner violence

Around 1 in 4 Australian women experiences intimate partner violence over their lifetime (ABS Personal Safety Survey). The health consequences are substantial - mental illness, chronic pain, injuries, and elevated risk of premature death.

Caregiving

Women perform substantially more unpaid caring labour (children, ageing parents, disabled family members). This affects employment, income, retirement savings, and mental health.

Workforce participation and pay

The gender pay gap in Australia is around 12-14% across the workforce. Lower lifetime earnings mean lower superannuation balances at retirement, contributing to older women being the fastest-growing homelessness cohort.

Where women have better outcomes

Life expectancy at birth is around 4 years higher for women than men. Specific causes of death (cardiovascular, occupational injury, suicide) are lower in women.

Men's health

Where men experience inequity

Suicide and mental illness

Men complete suicide at roughly three times the rate of women. Men access mental health services at lower rates than women relative to need.

Occupational health

Men have higher workplace injury and fatality rates because they are concentrated in construction, mining, transport, and agriculture - the highest-risk industries.

Cardiovascular disease

Men have higher rates of cardiovascular disease at younger ages than women.

Substance use

Higher rates of alcohol use, harmful alcohol use, illicit drug use, and substance use disorders.

Help-seeking

Cultural norms around masculinity discourage help-seeking for both physical and mental health. The "she'll be right" pattern has measurable mortality costs.

Incarceration

Men make up over 90% of the Australian prison population. Incarceration produces direct health harms (mental illness, infectious disease, premature mortality) and indirect harms (family disruption, employment loss).

Where men have better outcomes

Some women's-health-specific inequities (endometriosis underdiagnosis, family violence, gender pay gap) are absent or much smaller for men. The gender pay gap operates in the other direction for men.

LGBTIQ+ Australians

Mental health

LGBTIQ+ Australians experience substantially higher rates of mental illness, self-harm, and suicide than non-LGBTIQ+ Australians. The Writing Themselves In studies (La Trobe University, conducted multiple years) consistently document:

• Higher 12-month depression rates.
• Higher anxiety prevalence.
• Higher self-harm rates (around 4-5x non-LGBTIQ+ rates for some sub-groups).
• Higher suicide attempt rates.
• Higher rates of homelessness.

The drivers are well-understood:

• Discrimination, stigma, and "minority stress".
• Family rejection and homelessness, particularly for young people.
• Community violence and harassment.
• School and workplace bullying.
• Healthcare access barriers.

Trans and gender diverse Australians

Particularly elevated mental health risks documented in the Trans Pathways and Private Lives studies. Access to gender-affirming care varies widely by state and by financial position. Wait times for public gender clinics extend to years.

Sexual health

HIV management in Australia is among the best in the world, with PrEP access and HIV prevention infrastructure widely available. STI rates remain elevated in some sub-groups.

Healthcare experiences

LGBTIQ+ Australians report higher rates of poor healthcare experiences than non-LGBTIQ+ counterparts. Some have specific clinics and services (e.g., Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Thorne Harbour Health in Victoria). Mainstream services vary in cultural safety.

Determinants of gender and sexuality inequities

The standard layered framework applies.

Individual

• Health literacy and skills.
• Confidence in help-seeking.
• Internalised stigma (around identity, masculinity, mental health).

Sociocultural

• Family acceptance, particularly for LGBTIQ+ young people.
• Friend and peer networks.
• Cultural and religious context.
• Media representation.
• Public attitudes (improving on most measures over the last decade).

Socioeconomic

• The gender pay gap, women's lower retirement savings.
• Higher unemployment among LGBTIQ+ young people in some sub-groups.
• The Indigenous LGBTIQ+ population sits at the intersection of multiple disadvantage axes.

Environmental

• Service access (particularly rural and remote LGBTIQ+ Australians).
• Workplace and school safety.
• Legal environment (anti-discrimination protections vary; conversion practices are now banned in most states).

Intersectionality

Identities compound. The health experience of:

• An Aboriginal trans woman in a regional town.
• A migrant Muslim man with limited English.
• A young queer woman with disability in public housing.

... cannot be understood through any single category. The strongest contemporary public health analysis uses intersectional frameworks rather than treating identities as separate.

Policy responses

Gender-specific

• Workplace gender pay gap legislation (Workplace Gender Equality Act). Listed companies must report.
• Family and domestic violence services (Safe Steps, 1800RESPECT, state-level services).
• Women's health policy (federal Women's Health Strategy 2020-2030).
• Endometriosis action plan (federal, ongoing).

Men-specific

• Men's Health Strategy.
• Movember and male-targeted mental health programs.
• Beyond Blue's men's specific programs.
• Workplace safety reform in male-dominated industries.

LGBTIQ+

• Anti-discrimination law (federal Sex Discrimination Act covers sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status).
• State-level anti-conversion-practice laws.
• LGBTIQ+ specific health services (Thorne Harbour, ACON, etc.).
• Recognition policies (marriage equality 2017, ongoing state-level identity recognition reforms).

Cross-cutting

• Better Access mental health items.
• The 715 Indigenous health check addresses Indigenous women and men specifically.
• School-based programs (Safe Schools, respectful relationships, consent).

How this dot point applies in HSC responses

A typical question is "Examine the health inequities experienced by [specific group] in Australia and evaluate the strategies designed to address them". Strong responses:

1. Pick a specific group (the question may name one or ask you to choose).
2. Cite specific Australian data with sources.
3. Apply the determinants framework.
4. Recognise intersectionality where relevant.
5. Name and evaluate specific strategies.
6. Make an explicit judgment with reasoning.

The mistake to avoid is over-generalising. "Women experience worse health than men" is too crude; "women experience higher anxiety and mood disorder prevalence, longer endometriosis diagnosis delays, and higher rates of intimate partner violence, while having longer life expectancy" is the level of specificity HSC markers reward.