For a lot of women, perimenopause doesn’t arrive with a label. It arrives as bad sleep, a shorter temper, brain fog at work, or a sense that your body has quietly changed the rules without telling you. Many put it down to stress, or getting older, or just a rough patch. Often, it’s something else entirely.
You’re not imagining it, and you’re far from alone. About 1 in 2 women report symptoms during this stage of life, and around 1 in 4 experience symptoms severe enough to affect their daily activities. In 2026, there’s finally a clearer path to getting this properly looked at.
What perimenopause actually feels like
Hot flushes and night sweats are the symptoms most people know about, but they’re often not the first ones to show up. Perimenopause can also bring sleep disturbance, mood changes, difficulty concentrating, joint aches, changes in libido, and genitourinary symptoms like dryness or discomfort. Because these symptoms build gradually and overlap with ordinary life stress, they’re easy to miss or explain away, sometimes for years.
Australia just launched its first national campaign on this
In May 2026, the Australian Government launched its first ever national awareness campaign on perimenopause and menopause, called “Could This Be Perimenopause?”. It’s the direct result of a Senate inquiry that found many women were going without clear information, or having their symptoms dismissed. The campaign runs through to the end of 2026 and includes a symptom checklist women can bring along to a GP appointment.
A dedicated Medicare item for menopause care
Here’s the practical change. From 1 July 2025, a new Medicare item specifically supports a longer, dedicated menopause and perimenopause health assessment. Rather than trying to cover this properly in a standard short appointment, GPs can now claim a Medicare item built for exactly this conversation, with the time it actually needs.
What a menopause and perimenopause health assessment covers
Under the new Medicare item, a proper assessment generally includes:
- A detailed history of your symptoms and how they’re affecting your daily life
- Basic checks including blood pressure and weight
- Any relevant investigations your GP recommends
- A discussion of management options, which may include lifestyle approaches, non-hormonal support, or hormone therapy, depending on what’s right for you
- Consideration of related preventive care, such as cervical screening or bone density, where appropriate
Every woman’s plan looks different, because every woman’s experience of this stage looks different.
You don’t have to push through it alone
For a long time, the message to women was to just get on with it. That message was wrong, and the volume of women coming forward now that there’s a national conversation about it says so clearly. If something feels different in your body and you can’t quite explain it, that’s a reasonable thing to bring to a GP, not something to wait out.
Book your appointment
At Carrara Family Practice, our GPs provide women’s health care for every stage of life, including perimenopause and menopause support. Dr Prathibha Elizabeth Jose, one of our GPs, has a clinical interest in women’s health and preventive care.
This article is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Please speak with a GP at Carrara Family Practice about your individual circumstances.