More than half of Australian women are experiencing mental health issues, while one in four are likely to be suffering severe psychological distress, according to a major new national study.

The research has also found significantly poorer mental health among women living with female-specific physical health conditions, prompting calls for psychological support to become a routine part of treatment for endometriosis, pelvic pain, menopause and other conditions.

Women’s Mental Health Australia’s Beyond the Surface 2026 report surveyed 9000 women aged 18 and over across all states and regions in April.

It found 56 per cent were experiencing mental health issues, with 25 per cent likely to be experiencing severe psychological distress.

Rates were substantially higher among women with some female-specific conditions.

Almost half of women with endometriosis reported depression (48 per cent), while 47 per cent reported anxiety or generalised anxiety disorder.

Among women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), as described in the report, 47 per cent reported depression and 39 per cent reported anxiety or generalised anxiety disorder.

Women’s Mental Health Australia Chief Operating Officer Katrina Locandro said the results highlighted gaps in the way women’s health was currently treated.

“Women’s physical and mental health issues are not experienced independently, so our health system needs to adapt instead of maintaining the status quo,” Locandro said.

She said mental health assessment and psychological support should become a standard part of women’s health services, including care for endometriosis, pelvic pain, menopause, fertility and pelvic floor conditions.

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The study also found 13 per cent of women with endometriosis reported suicide or self-harm, compared with four per cent across the overall sample.

Report co-author Professor Bronwyn Graham, Director of the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine, said women were too often left navigating separate systems for their physical and mental health.

“Women are being asked to manage two separate journeys, one for their body and one for their mind, and to find their own way between them at the point they are least able to,” Graham said.

Graham said the answer was to strengthen existing services through routine mental health assessments, clinician training and clear referral pathways within the services women already use.

Despite more women seeking help in 2026, the research found one in three experiencing mental health issues were still not seeking support.

The reasons varied. Almost a third cited financial cost, 32 per cent believed they could manage the problem themselves and 29 per cent did not consider their mental health issues serious enough to seek support.

Embarrassment, fear of judgement, difficulty accessing services and long waiting times were also barriers.

Women’s Mental Health Australia is calling for mental health assessment and support to be integrated into government-funded Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics around the country.