Social Justice Lecture 2026 (Cairns)

Who Cares? The role of social justice in the practice of women’s reproductive healthcare

Principles of social justice underlie the practice of all reproductive healthcare for women. ‘Her body, her choice’ is now a core belief enshrined in Australian legislation in all jurisdictions. Universal antenatal care through Medicare is designed to level the playing field, so that all women giving birth may access care that prevents complications of pregnancy and childbirth, or detects and manages complications when they do occur.

Attention to mental health and the social situations of expectant mothers are now integral parts of prepartum care. Prevention and/or detection and management of cervical cancer is available for all women; better diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain and endometriosis are gaining attention.

But for thousands of years, up until the late-Victorian era, pregnancy and childbirth were highly dangerous for women and babies, and there was no safe and effective practice of gynaecology. The changes brought over the past century-and-a-half have sometimes been specific for women, such as caesarean section, and sometimes beneficial for the whole population, such as antibiotics and blood transfusion, but often they have come about only because of the efforts and campaigns of women themselves, over many years.

This presentation will deal with some of this history, where we are now in applying principles of social justice to women’s reproductive healthcare, and what remains to be done – quite a bit, actually!

Adjunct Professor de Costa will also touch on her writing of both academic papers and books (non-fiction) directed to women with information about their healthcare. And more recently, fiction, with seven novels published since 2015. Principles of social justice underlie all of this work.

Light refreshments will be served.

The Social Justice Lecture Series is presented annually by Social Work and Human Services at James Cook University. It is made possible by, and in honour of, Emeritus Professor Rosamund Thorpe whose tireless commitment to social justice for disadvantaged and disempowered people continues to inspire and enhance social work practice and education in North Queensland.

This year’s Social Justice Lecture will be presented in collaboration with the Roderick Centre for Australian Literature & Creative Writing. For more information, visit jcu.edu.au/RCALC.