Most women become menopausal naturally between the ages of 45 and 55 years, with the average age of onset in Australia at 51 years. The perimenopause is the time preceding the menopause to one year after the menopause, and is characterised by hormonal fluctuation, anovulatory cycles and onset of cycle irregularity and symptoms.

Only 20% of women report no menopausal symptoms, leaving 80% of people experiencing symptoms at some time, with 20% classified as severe. Typical symptoms commonly reported by peri- and postmenopausal women include hot flushes, night sweats and sleeping difficulties, bodily aches and pains, dry skin, vaginal dryness, loss of libido, urinary frequency, and mood and memory changes. Hot flushes and night sweats are the hallmarks of menopause, occurring in approximately 75% of postmenopausal women, with 25% of these being severely affected. Menopause is associated with adverse metabolic and bone changes leading to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

According to Australia’s 2021 Census, 50.7% of the population (25.4 million) were female and 19.3% of the population are aged between 40-54 years. Now that women live around one third of their lives after menopause, optimising physical and mental health during this time is becoming more important.

Managing menopause requires a comprehensive assessment including symptoms, risk of chronic disease, lifestyle and appropriate screening and development of an individualised plan incorporating the woman’s treatment goals and risk: benefit analysis.

 

Management options include: lifestyle measures, nonpharmacological, contraception, non-hormonal and menopausal hormone therapies.

Menopause often intersects with a critical career stage during which women are most likely to move into top leadership positions; women are coming into management and leadership roles while experiencing symptoms. If we want to continue to move the dial on women in leadership roles then we need to be addressing menopause at work.

The Australian Government has included a priority area for supporting women and their health care providers to manage the effects of menopause.

AIA Australia has partnered with the Australasian Menopause Society (AMS) to raise awareness and end stigma in order to foster inclusive workplaces where people are psychologically safe to speak up and discuss their menopause symptoms and experience as well as to provide support to ensure we all have a workplace that is set up for all our people. People experiencing the symptoms of menopause require the same level of support and understanding at work as anyone experiencing any ongoing health condition

Menopause is a gender and age-equity issue and remains one of the last “unspoken” issues in workplaces. In addition to workplaces, a supportive partner and family can significantly impact the menopause experience.