Zora Health / Employer guide / Australia
Support your experienced employees through menopause, and help them stay at their best.
Most Australian women believe their employer would not be understanding about menopause, and seven in ten think menopause leave would be used against them. Zora Health helps you build practical menopause support, from workplace policies and manager training to confidential care navigation and access to 128+ partner clinics in 16 countries, around your workforce and budget. Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with us.
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Five things Australian HR leaders should know
- The average age at menopause in Australia is 51, and the transition usually starts around 47.
- Since 1 July 2025, Medicare pays for a menopause and perimenopause health assessment with a GP, once every 12 months.
- Three menopausal hormone therapy products were added to the PBS from 1 March 2025, cutting costs for many women.
- The 2024 Senate inquiry made 25 recommendations. The Government noted, but did not adopt, a recommendation for menopause leave.
- In 2022-23, 65 of 532 employers reporting to WGEA offered paid menopause leave.
Why menopause is a business problem for employers
Menopause rarely announces itself at work. It looks like a senior manager who slept four hours, a wave of heat in the middle of a client meeting, a word that will not come in front of the board. Symptoms come and go for years. Many women do not link them to menopause, and fewer tell their manager.
So the cost stays out of your reports. It shows up instead as:
- Fear of judgement. In the Jean Hailes 2023 National Women’s Health Survey, more than four in five women believed employers or co-workers would not be understanding about menopause leave, and seven in ten believed employers would use it to discriminate (Senate Community Affairs References Committee, 2024).
- Lost earnings. AIST estimated in 2022 that menopause costs women $17 billion a year in lost earnings and super. The Senate committee noted the estimate rests on limited UK studies.
- Not every woman struggles. In Monash University’s AMY study of more than 8,000 women aged 40 to 69, only 3.3% had poor work ability. Support works best when it is targeted and flexible.
- Early menopause. About 12% of women have early menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency, sometimes in their thirties (Senate committee, Chapter 1).
What employers gain
Keep the people who know how your business runs
Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary, according to Gallup. Women’s labour force participation was 63.1% in September 2026 (ABS Labour Force), so many of your experienced employees will go through menopause at work. A written policy, trained managers and quick access to the right doctor can help address barriers that contribute to employee attrition.
Stand out to experienced women
Only about one in eight employers reporting to WGEA offered paid menopause leave in 2022-23. A clear menopause offer, explained in your benefits pack, stands out to senior women weighing their next move.
Make menopause support financially predictable
Aon projects Australia’s medical trend at 5.2% for 2026 (Aon, October 2026). Much of what helps menopause costs very little: a flexible start time, a fan, a manager who knows what to say.
Zora helps employers set an annual allowance or top-up around Medicare, the PBS and private health insurance, so HR can run the programme within an agreed budget. The benefit works alongside your existing insurance.
Want to see what this would look like for your Australian workforce?
What menopause care costs, and what the state pays
Medicare and the PBS now cover more menopause care than before. Specialist fees and treatments outside the PBS are still paid out of pocket or through private health insurance.
| Item | Public support | What the employee still carries |
|---|---|---|
| Menopause health assessment with a GP (MBS item 695) | Fee A$104.55, with a 100% Medicare benefit of A$104.55, once every 12 months, from 1 July 2025 | Any gap the GP charges above the fee |
| Hormone therapy on the PBS (Estrogel, Prometrium, Estrogel Pro) | Listed from 1 March 2025. Before listing, these could cost up to A$650 a year | A$31.60 a month general, A$7.70 concession |
| Time off for appointments | 10 days of paid sick and carer’s leave a year for full-time employees | No menopause leave in the National Employment Standards |
From MBS Online, the Australasian Menopause Society and the Fair Work Ombudsman. Bijuva was recommended for listing in July 2026 but is not yet on the PBS (PBS). The MBS item is temporary for an initial two years. These are published examples, not guaranteed current prices: actual costs depend on cover, clinic, doctor and treatment, so confirm fees with the provider before budgeting.
Seven in ten Australian women believe employers would use menopause leave to discriminate.
The Government has responded to the Senate inquiry but has not created a menopause leave entitlement. For employers, the practical opportunity is to help employees recognise their symptoms, understand their options and reach appropriate clinical advice sooner.
Menopause support that fits your workforce and budget
You do not need to overhaul your existing health insurance to support employees through menopause. Start with awareness and manager education, add confidential one-to-one support, or introduce a fuller programme across your offices. There is no minimum company size.
Where included in the employer programme, eligible employees can use talks and care navigation without paying Zora a separate fee. Care navigation allowances are set in each proposal. Treatment and other third-party costs are paid separately, either by employees or through the allowance their employer provides.
Companies starting the conversation
Essentials
Expert-led talks for employees and managers, menopause policy templates, manager guides and full access to the Zora app. Up to 2 talks a year.
Employees supported one to one
Navigation
Everything in Essentials, plus confidential one-to-one care navigation and access to our partner clinic network.
Large teams across countries
Complete
Everything in Navigation, plus quarterly anonymised reporting, a dedicated account manager and scheduled review meetings with HR.
Optional add-ons can be added to any programme, subject to availability: hormone diagnostics and telehealth with specialists. Pricing is tailored to your headcount, your countries and the services you choose. Most companies start with a single talk.
Request a proposal See how Zora works for employers
Comparing menopause benefit providers? Use our RFP question bank
Our question bank has 40 questions for multi-country benefits teams, with why each one matters, what a good answer looks like and a scoring sheet for three providers. Six of the questions for menopause support in Australia:
- Is menopause support included as standard, or only fertility?
- What access do employees get to menopause specialists and hormone testing, and how quickly?
- How does the programme help employees use the Medicare menopause health assessment and PBS-listed treatments before any private spend?
- Do you provide fertility and menopause policy templates for our markets?
- How can an employee get help confidentially without telling their manager?
- What individual-level data does HR see?
Your download link appears as soon as you submit. Zora Health may contact you about employee benefits; see our privacy policy.
Plan your menopause benefit budget
Menopause care allowance planner
Model the annual claims budget for a menopause care allowance. Change any number.
This is a claims budget, not a Zora quotation. Zora’s programme fees, implementation and optional services are separate.
It estimates the annual budget for a menopause care allowance from your eligible workforce, expected utilisation and allowance per employee, and assumes each user claims the full allowance. Eligible employees defaults to 15% as a stand-in for women aged 45 and over; use your own headcount data. The default allowance of A$1,000 is an illustrative figure for private consultations, tests and treatment. Utilisation is an editable assumption, not observed Zora data. For a proposal covering both programme costs and employee benefits, request an employer proposal.
Estimate the potential workforce impact of menopause symptoms
A rough planning scenario. It applies a published estimate to your headcount, so it is not a prediction for your workforce, a measured loss or a forecast of savings from any programme.
Range: A$60,436 to A$182,942 a year, depending on replacement cost.
Assumptions: 13.4% of working women aged 45 to 60 reported at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms, and those who missed work lost a median of 3 days a year (Faubion et al., Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2023). This was a US clinic sample, so treat it as a rough benchmark for Australia. The default salary is full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings of A$2,083.70 (May 2026) multiplied by 52. Use your own. Replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary (Gallup, 2019); the headline uses the low end. Absence is valued at salary divided by 250 working days. Exit rate is your own assumption.
Already have corporate health insurance? Here is where Zora fits
Your medical plan may cover some consultations and treatment. Employees still need to recognise their symptoms, understand their options and find a doctor who knows menopause care, and many never get that far.
Zora works alongside your existing insurance and benefits. We help employees get reliable information, navigate their care options and reach suitable specialists, and we give HR manager training, policy templates and, on the Complete programme, anonymised reporting. You strengthen menopause support without replacing your medical plan.
How Zora works
For your employees
Employees join the Zora app with a company code, or single sign-on for larger teams. They can learn about perimenopause and menopause, understand what your benefit covers, book a confidential care navigation call and find partner doctors and specialists.
For HR
- Kick-off, week 1. Agree goals, countries and which employees are eligible.
- Policy and benefit design, weeks 2 to 4. Draft or update your menopause policy and flexible work guidance using our templates.
- Launch, typically weeks 4 to 6. A launch talk for employees and managers, plus a communications pack for HR to send.
- Live support. Employees book care navigation calls and use the Zora app.
- Reporting, every 3 months, on the Complete programme. Anonymised usage, common themes and our recommendations, reviewed with your account manager.
Privacy
On the Complete programme, HR receives anonymised, aggregated reports only: how many employees used the programme, which services they used and the common themes. On every programme, HR never sees an individual employee’s health information, bookings or test results, and employees can get help without telling their manager. Employee data is stored on Amazon Web Services in Singapore and handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act.
Clinics and doctors in Australia
Zora’s directory lists 56 clinics and 241 doctors in Australia. Locations include Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and 6 of the clinics list menopause care among their services.
Employees can browse clinics in Australia and find a doctor in Australia on the Zora app. The directory is for information only and is not an endorsement. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.
Rules and eligibility in Australia
Sick and carer’s leave
Under the National Employment Standards, full-time employees get 10 days of paid sick and carer’s leave a year. Casual employees are not covered (Fair Work Ombudsman).
Government response to the Senate inquiry
Of the 25 recommendations, 16 were supported or supported in principle and 9 were noted. The recommendation on menopause and reproductive leave was noted, with no new entitlement. The recommendation on flexible work requests was noted pending a wider review, and better WGEA data was supported in principle (Department of Health).
Victorian Public Service
The Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2024 includes up to 5 paid days a year of reproductive health and wellbeing leave, which covers menopause (Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance).
What other employers offer
The Victorian Women’s Trust offers 12 days of menopause leave, and staff took about 6 days a year on average. CBUS offers 12 days; across more than 700 staff over three years, only 40 days were used (Senate committee, Chapter 3).
Why employers choose Zora
Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with Zora Health. We work alongside your existing insurance, helping employees use the cover they already have and find suitable doctors and specialists based on their needs.
Zora Health helped me to reclaim my confidence to thrive at work!
Questions HR teams ask us
Do Australian employers have to give menopause leave?
No. The National Employment Standards do not include menopause leave, and the Government noted but did not adopt the Senate recommendation for it.
What does Medicare pay for menopause?
Since 1 July 2025, a GP menopause and perimenopause health assessment of at least 20 minutes, with a Medicare benefit of A$104.55, once every 12 months.
Is HRT on the PBS?
Estrogel, Prometrium and Estrogel Pro were listed from 1 March 2025. Bijuva was recommended in July 2026 but is not yet listed.
How many Australian employers offer menopause leave?
In 2022-23, 65 of 532 employers reporting to WGEA offered paid menopause leave.
At what age do Australian women reach menopause?
The average age is 51, and the transition usually starts around 47.
Does Zora replace our health insurance?
No. Zora works alongside your insurance. We help employees understand their options, find suitable specialists and use the cover they already have.
How much does menopause support cost an employer?
It depends on the programme, any allowance and expected uptake. Use the budget planner on this page for a first estimate, then ask us for a tailored proposal based on your headcount and countries.
How quickly can we launch?
Typically 4 to 6 weeks from contract to launch, depending on scope and countries. Most companies start with a single talk.
Related guides for Australian employers
Build a menopause support programme for your team
Whether you are introducing menopause benefits for the first time or improving an existing programme, tell us your headcount, countries and priorities. We will come back within two working days with suitable services, an indicative budget and a practical rollout plan for your Australian team. No obligation.
Sources
- Senate Community Affairs References Committee, Issues related to menopause and perimenopause, Chapter 1, September 2024
- Senate Community Affairs References Committee, Chapter 3: Impact on work, September 2024
- ABS, Labour Force Australia, October 2026
- ABS, Average Weekly Earnings, August 2026
- MBS Online, Item 695
- Australasian Menopause Society, AMS commends funding of MHT, February 2025
- PBS, Medicine status: Bijuva
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer’s leave
- Department of Health, Government response to the menopause inquiry, February 2025
- Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, VPS Enterprise Agreement 2024
- Aon, APAC medical cost growth, October 2026
- Gallup, This fixable problem costs US businesses $1 trillion, 2019
- Mayo Clinic News Network, Faubion et al., Impact of menopause symptoms on women in the workplace, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, April 2023