Content warning: This article touches on issues relating to mental health, suicide, and eating disorders, which may be triggering to some readers.
On Saturday, 11 October 2025, The Australian Women’s Weekly‘s Health Summit series concluded our national roadshow with our first event in Perth at the Parmelia Hilton.
This year, we were able to bring our Health Summit Series around the country thanks to our sponsors: Priceline Pharmacy, together with Blackmores, Colgate, and Boost Labs.
We covered all things health (specifically women’s health), with more than 170 guests. Throughout the day, our guests were treated to several informative panel discussions, interactive installations and delicious healthy food!
In case you missed it (or if you did attend and want to relive the day), here’s a rundown of everything that happened. Plus, the best learnings from the panellists.
Opening proceedings with Sophie, Jess, and Mel
The Weekly Editor, Sophie Tedmanson, hosted the event, and the fabulous Jess Rowe was the emcee who welcomed everyone to our inaugural Perth Health Summit and shared conversations she had had with guests before the event. Like one woman who was celebrating her 55th wedding anniversary but decided to come to the Health Summit with her daughter!
Before we began the panels, Mel Gannon, an expert Pharmacist from Priceline Pharmacy, announced the launch of Priceline’s Anything Menopause Program to support women experiencing menopause.
She said that even though it can be different for everyone, Priceline Pharmacy can be a great resource for women going through this hormonal change in their lives and connecting people with other allied healthcare professionals.
Mel called menopause a “hot topic” (pun absolutely intended) and shared that the new program is “grounded in education for our pharmacists and team” and aims to “connect and support women in their journey”. The first-of-its-kind program is now available at Priceline Pharmacies around the country. Find out more information here.
Turia Pitt shares how she learned to be selfish
Most of the time, calling someone “selfish” is an insult, but Turia Pitt is recaliming the word and finally putting herself first in her latest memoir, titled Selfish.
Turia wasn’t able to be there in person, so she tuned in via a video link.
“Women in today’s society are valorised for prioritising others,” she said to Sophie in the first panel. But constantly putting herself first led to severe burnout and depression for Turia while she was writing this book.
“Writing the book and reading back the words…was scary for me to read,” she shared. It was a friend who encouraged her to get a mental health plan from her GP. But, waiting for her in the waiting room was her other book, Happy, which led her to believe that the GP would think she was an “absolute fraud”.
“I wish I had been honest about how I was feeling earlier,” she said. “I love feeling bright and energetic and motivated, but it’s impossible to do that all the time.”
Turia said that she reckons the “toxic positivity” is thrust on people to our detriment. “Mental health doesn’t discriminate”.
She encouraged attendees to reach out and build communities and foster good mental health practices like leaving your phone at home and enjoying a cup of tea in the sun, reach out to a girlfriend or your mum and enforce boundaries.
“Self-care is just taking care of yourself,” Turia said. “If I don’t prioritise those things of give myself permission, then I’m going to be burned out.”
Put yourselves first!
Your Perigodmothers: Shelly Horton and Michelle Bridges
Our favourite perimenopause-themed double act took to the stage for the final time on the Health Summit series!
In September 2020, Shelly first started experiencing perimenopause symptoms, but she and her doctor had no idea what it was. She had severe depressive symptoms, something she had never experienced before. It was her partner, whose mother was in the front row, who finally told her that she should go to the doctor.
That’s when she heard about perimenopause for the first time.
“I wasn’t grateful, I got mad,” she confessed. She made it her mission to get menopause added to the medical care curriculum. And she, along with many other inspired people, succeeded. In 2023, she participated in the first parliamentary round table on menopause to push for change. Not only that, but Hormone Replacement Therapy is now on the PBS.
At a similar time, her co-panellist, Michelle Bridges, was going to the GP all the time with different ailments, from a “dial-up sound” in her ears to a “chainsaw pain” in her hip. She couldn’t sleep, had bad cholesterol, and was deficient in Vitamin D. One day, she was listening to a podcast about perimenopause, where they mentioned those exact symptoms, and it clicked.
But, as Michelle said, menopause “is an iceberg” as there is still so much that is misunderstood and so much to learn.
“It’s not a jail sentence, it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and become the CEOs of our lives,” she said.
Their advice on what to manage: Sleep health, lifting weight (think “strong not skinny” says Shelly), adding a cardio “spike” to your regimen (jumping for 20 seconds), nutrition, hormone health with your doctor, and “Looking after yourself as a whole person.”
Menopause Mythbusting with the experts
There are lots of menopause misnomers out there, and Dr Sunita Chelvanayagam and Grace Molloy, the co-founder and CEO of Menopause Friendly Australia, were ready to bust some myths. Grace also attended the Sydney Health Summit.
Sunita started off the panel with an apology on behalf of all doctors for the WHI study, which led to the belief that Hormone Replacement Therapy could lead to cancer. It was based on synthetic hormones, and the media got hold of the story and which led to many being taken off their hormones.
Now, “we have much better forms of hormones,” she shares. And it can be life-changing for women.
Sunita also shared that not everyone will get the same symptoms and therefore will not need the same treatments: “What your friends are taking may not work for you…find out what works for you…it’s an individual journey.”
And that journey is a holistic one. She echoed Turia and Shelly and Michelle, advising that we look after our bodies and our minds: “Choose yourself.”
Grace’s company works with businesses to create workplaces and environments that support people experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
“Your symptoms don’t go away when we’re at work,” Grace rightfully said. As she explained, the workplace is generally designed for a middle-aged man, and they don’t have to deal with varying changes caused by fluctuating and plummeting hormones.
And there are only upsides to putting in practices that work for women who may be managing menopause symptoms for decades.
“You might need some flexibility…extra leave or take time to go to the doctor… Workplaces are understanding that if they do that, employees are more engaged and grateful.”
“We’ve heard it all before”, says Mel Gannon
Mel Gannon from Priceline Pharmacy returned to the stage to speak with The Weekly’s Health and Beauty Editor Ashleigh Austen to discuss menopause symptoms.
“Perimenopause is more than just hot flushes and night sweats,” she explains. It can range from frozen shoulder to itchy ears and beyond. “There are estrogen receptors in every part of your body, and sometimes we’re ignoring those symptoms.”
But as she says, if you ignore them, the symptoms can get worse: “We need to talk about it.”
And where’s the best place to start? At Priceline Pharmacy’s Anything Menopause program, of course!
“It’s not one size fits all, don’t pick something blindly, and make sure what you’re purchasing is TGA-approved.”
Talking supplements with a naturopath
Herbs and supplements can be a great support to your overall health. One thing that came up on all panels was the impact that menopause can have on our sleep.
Naturopath Lisa Fiocchini shared some tips on sleep hygiene: get rid of your phones (“blue light needs to not be in the bedroom”) and consider adding herbal teas like saffron, chamomile, passionflower, and valerian.
But when it comes to supplements, she advised speaking with your pharmacist or GP to ensure you aren’t taking too much of (or too little of something).
And her top tip for wellbeing: grate fresh ginger and squeeze lemon juice into an ice cube tray, fill with water and freeze, in the morning add the ice cubes to warm water and enjoy it outside in the sun. A lovely, gentle way to welcome the day.
Perimenopop with Sohie Ellis-Bextor
The British pop artist Sophie made a surprise showing after the lunch break! In a pre-recorded video, she shared that she hoped everyone was having a lovely day and praised that we were speaking about this issue, which has recently become a major theme of her life: perimenopause.
Her latest album, Perimenopop, is inspired by this latest stage of her life and is about “coming into your power” and flipping the script so that we can “feel good and joyful”.
Read our interview with Sophie here.
“Life is amazing”, says Narelda Jacobs OAM
The Australian journalist and newsreader (and Perth local) was a guest on the mental health panel in Perth. Narelda has been on parental leave since March. She and her wife are taking 12 months off; it’s a scary notion for a woman in media, but she’s enjoying taking the time to be with her family and her older daughter, Jade.
“It’s the best decision we’ve made,” she gushed to the crowd. “Other doors have opened.”
But it wasn’t always a fun run.
“My eyes have been opened over the last five years,” she confessed. “Things have long gone unsaid.” Those things include the social divides which were illuminated during COVID, from Black Lives Matter protests to genocides and wars in the interim years.
All of that in the zeitgeist impacts everyone’s mental health, she says. So her advice for managing your mental health in these times: “Get a wife!”
Also, “setting expectations for other people,” emphasising the same advice for boundaries and centring yourself.
She was joined on the mental health panel by Dr Marny Lishman, author and psychologist who literally wrote the book on burnout.
“Women are naturally full of empathy…we just keep going,” she told the crowd. “The beautiful thing about becoming a middle-aged woman is that we become more assertive about what we want and can say no with ease.”
She echoed others at the Health Summit and advised us that it’s okay to think of our own needs and put ourselves first. She told us to visualise a wine barrel and everyone’s demands and asks of us are more and more liquid pouring into the barrel. If we don’t put in a boundary (aka a tap), the barrel will overflow or implode.
Healthy Food with Fran Abdallaoui
Women’s Weekly Food Director, Fran Abdallaoui, made a “pick-your-protein protein bowl” with Jess Rowe!
While they went through the steps for the protein bowl, Fran shared some advice and tips for cooking, from rinsing your silverbeet well, to cooking quinoa (or chicken!) in bone broth for added nutrients, and jazzing up your boiled eggs with everything bagel seasoning and fresh herbs, of course!
Servers also came around to serve medjool dates stuffed with peanut butter, smothered in chocolate and sprinkled with rose petals, salt or nuts!
Both recipes they shared are available on Women’s Weekly Food: Stuffed dates and Protein Bowl.
Amazing activations
Attendees were able to get their health checked by a nifty gizmo, courtesy of Priceline Pharmacy. The SiSu Health Station, which in under 4 minutes provided our guests with their weight, BMI, blood pressure and whether they were at risk of diabetes.
Also, there was a super fun “Spin the Wheel” where guests could win luxury skincare items and more. It was so popular that the queue for it snaked around the floor!
If you’re going through a hard time right now, the Beyond Blue Support Service offers a free and confidential counselling service. You can call them on 1300 224 636, chat online, or email them 24/7.
