A health promotion charity for women in midlife.
We help prevent and control the diseases and conditions that affect women's sexual, pelvic and genitourinary health in perimenopause and menopause. Our place is in the community: reaching women directly, alongside the clinicians and general practices already being funded to care for them.
Vision
No woman goes without care in midlife because of cost, distance or silence.
Mission
To fund education and care pathways that help women recognise, prevent and treat the health conditions of perimenopause and menopause.
Values
- Evidence first. We rely on research, source every claim and measure what we do.
- Dignity without judgement. Intimate health deserves plain, respectful conversation.
- Equity of access. We go first to the women most likely to miss out.
- Independence and transparency. We publish our board, our results and every dealing with a related business.
The problem
Genitourinary syndrome of menopause affects between 27% and 84% of postmenopausal women, yet only a minority seek or are offered treatment. The Menopause Society, Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause Position Statement, 2020
About one in four Australian women aged 45 to 64 say menopause symptoms made daily activities hard. 7% missed work and 17% took an extended break from work in the past five years. Jean Hailes National Women's Health Survey, 2023
About 12% of women experience early menopause or primary ovarian insufficiency. A Senate inquiry received 290 submissions describing gaps in care. Senate Community Affairs References Committee, Issues related to menopause and perimenopause, 2024
These conditions are common, treatable and widely missed. Women on low incomes, women living with disability, women in regional and remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face the steepest barriers.
Why Hope started the Foundation
Hope is an educator, the author of RESIDUE and a keynote speaker on women's sexual health and menopause. She created the HOPE Method, a structured method for women in midlife, after years of hearing the same thing: women did not know what was happening to their bodies, and could not afford or reach the help that exists.
She founded The Midlife Foundation so that cost and distance stop deciding who gets care. Hope will serve as one of four directors, three of them independent.
Meet the boardOur approach to independence
Hope also owns School of Sexual Wellness Pty Ltd, an education business. The Foundation is a separate legal entity with its own bank account, brand and records. Hope takes no part in any decision about her business, and any payment to it is approved by independent directors only, at or below market rates, and published each year.
Read how we manage conflicts