Leeton's 2021 Australia Day ambassador is Endometriosis Australia co-founder Donna Cicca

Donna Ciccia, the co-founder and a board director of Endometriosis Australia, will address the community on Australia Day in Mountford Park as part of her role as ambassador.

Mrs Ciccia has friends and relatives in the Leeton shire community, so she was elated to discover she would be the town's ambassador in 2021.

In 2018 Mrs Ciccia was named in the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence and Blackmore's Women & Wellness - ChangeBeing for 2019.

She is a member of the Federal Steering Committee for the Implementation of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis, as well as being a director of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society.

"I did request coming to Leeton this year as an ambassador not only because I have family there, but also with the COVID situation, I feel safe there and also that I'm protecting the community as well," Mrs Ciccia said.

"There is a lovely endometriosis support group there in Leeton. I have been privileged in the past to meet with some of the women and have a coffee with them.

"Endometriosis is such a horrible disease. It's a quality of life disease. You live with it forever."

It is on that note that Mrs Ciccia hopes to raise more awareness at a local level during her visit to Leeton shire for Australia Day.

She said with more than 800,000 women in Australia fighting the battle with the disease each day, it was crucial to be creating awareness and advocating for sufferers.

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"We started Endometriosis Australia in 2012, 2013 and at that time it was a seven to 12 year delay in diagnosis of the disease," Mrs Ciccia said.

"New research at the end of last year showed since 2013 the diagnostic time has reduced to six-and-a-half years in Australia.

"I like to attribute that to the greater awareness is on a national level.

"People have now heard more about endometriosis, but they don't really know what it is and how big the impacts are."

Endometriosis is present when the tissue that is similar to the lining of the uterus (womb) occurs outside this layer and causes pain and/or infertility.

The lining layer is called the endometrium and this is the layer of tissue that is shed each month with menstruation or where a pregnancy settles and grows.

It's symptoms can be horrific and, with many women waiting years for an official diagnosis from doctors, the consequences can be disastrous for mental health.

"Patients have been maligned for years of it being 'all in their head' and they still get that every day," Mrs Ciccia said.

"They are told 'you've got a low pain threshold'. It's really heartbreaking for those patients that are told those things.

"A lot of them go in for that first surgery to be diagnosed and they actually want the doctors to find something. Normally you don't want anything to be found, but with endometriosis they want their concerns and their pain to be validated.

"This disease affects so much of your life. It affects your bowel movement, your bladder movement, your relationships, sex life, friendships and your mental health as well."

Mrs Ciccia said becoming an Australia Day ambassador in recent years was an honour and she hopes to continue using the platform to spread awareness and educate the communities she visits as part of the role.

Leeton shire residents wanting to hear her Australia Day address can do so by attending the official ceremony in Mountford Park on the morning of January 26.