With two successful businesses to run and a team of staff to lead, Kate Sinfield could not afford to have anything get in her way.
Key points:
- The careers of thousands of Australian women are affected by menopause
- A new organisation wants workplaces to offer them better support
- Menopause costs women an estimated $15 billion in annual earnings and super
But three years ago, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she started showing symptoms of menopause.
"When I first became what I now know as menopausal, I actually thought I'd completely lost my mind, because I couldn't remember anything," she said.
The 57-year-old runs Sin Gin Distillery in Western Australia and before this year, had also owned the Murray Hotel in Perth's CBD.
But like thousands of other women around the country, menopause significantly impacted her ability to work.
"As a woman, I was feeling really empowered with my career and where I was in my life, and then suddenly, my brain just didn't work."
"I thought I had early onset dementia or something, I was really worried about myself, and then I started not sleeping at night and getting the hot flashes."
Not really understanding what was happening to her, she suffered in silence, worried that if she spoke out, it would undermine her position.
"I think we still live in a very male [dominated] society still, and so many things aren't discussed openly — miscarriages, infertility, most things to do with women," she said.
"There wasn't enough conversation in my workplace and even when I reached out to other women, we were very badly informed about menopause."
A taboo topic in the workplace
After Ms Sinfield received the appropriate treatment, her symptoms subsided, and she felt like herself again.
But her experience with menopause is not uncommon, with many women feeling embarrassed or ashamed to discuss its effect on them.
Menopause and perimenopause cause fluctuating hormone levels, which bring on a range of symptoms including hot flushes, insomnia, fatigue, weight gain, mood changes, anxiety, depression, brain fog and weakened short-term memory.
For most women, it comes at a time when they are in a senior position or at the peak of their career.
But despite women making up nearly half the Australian workforce, menopause is still considered a taboo topic in many workplaces.
Menopause Alliance Australia, a new organisation dedicated to raising awareness of menopause, is hoping to break that stigma.
"I think as a nation, we've embraced pregnancy and child rearing and it shouldn't stop at the onset of menopause," the group's chief executive Natalie Martin said.
"I'm sure once we create more noise around it, I'm sure businesses will embrace it and take it on just like they have with other policies."
Push for more policies offering support
Ms Martin founded the organisation after noticing a significant lack of understanding and support for women who were perimenopausal and menopausal.
It aims to encourage workplaces to acknowledge and accommodate menopause, by establishing policies that support women during this transitional phase.
This includes flexible working arrangements, access to cooling devices, and education for managers and colleagues on menopause symptoms and how to create a more inclusive and supportive workplace culture.
A number of Australian companies in the private sector have already implemented some of these.
The Victorian Women's Trust, apparel brand Modibodi and Future Super are among a growing number of businesses that have introduced their own paid menstrual and menopausal leave policies.
Ms Martin would like to see that offered nationwide.
"It's shown that 13 per cent of women leave the workforce due to menopausal symptoms, and we'd like to see that reduced so that they stay within the workplace and thrive and reach their potential in their career," she said.
"No woman should be left behind."
Early retirements and big superannuation gap
Various research and recent studies have indicated that up to a quarter of menopausal women experience debilitating symptoms, leading to long-term absences from work or forcing them into early retirement.
Earlier this year, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) increased its estimate of the cost of menopause to more than $15 billion per year in lost earnings and superannuation.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed women retired an average 7.4 years earlier than men and based on the average income for women aged 45-54. This equated to a loss of salary and super of more than $577,512.
It has prompted calls for the federal government to measure and report on the impact of menopause on women's employment and retirement decisions and income.
In a statement, AIST chief executive Eva Scheerlinck said the role menopause played in contributing to the superannuation gender gap needed to be investigated to ensure appropriate policy and public health interventions could be developed.
"This is a great time for this work to be done, because women retire with 40 per cent less superannuation than men and they live longer," she said.
"[Menopause] leads to experienced middle-aged women leaving the workforce at a time when they are at the peak of their experience and earning potential."
'A very lonely and difficult experience'
Supporting that push is WA Labor MP Christine Tonkin, who first spoke about her menopausal experience at the launch of Menopause Alliance last year.
Ms Tonkin faced her own struggles with menopause during her past job leading a major public procurement reform for the Queensland Government.
"I was the first director of Queensland Purchasing who was a woman [and] I was in a male-dominated department, and I was falling to pieces emotionally," she said.
"I wouldn't speak about it, because I didn't want to be seen to be weak and female.
"So I held it together and I got through that time, but it was a very lonely and difficult experience."
She wants to prevent more women from going through similar experiences and believes the key to that is starting the conversation.
"I don't think we should have to hide it, I don't think we should see it as a sign of weakness. I think we do need to speak out," she said.
"And I think the more open people can be in their workplace about what they're experiencing, the better."
Kate Sinfield also believes it is time for that change in Australia.
"Every woman's going to go through menopause at different degrees, but it just needs to be discussed and people just have to be aware of it," she said.
"It's not the end for us, we women keep going."