About the program
We are investing $166 million to form a new Australian Cancer Nursing and Navigation Program.
The program will ensure all people with cancer have access to care that is:
- high quality
- culturally safe
- across all Australian locations
- for all cancer types.
The program will also help guide families, friends and carers to support patients to navigate the health system.
The program will have multiple components including:
- the Cancer Navigation Service
- Cancer care nurse service
- Child and Youth Cancer Hub
- specialist support services.
Program components
The Cancer Navigation Service
The Cancer Navigation Service will connect people to multidisciplinary specialist support service teams and refer people to clinically appropriate information. The navigation service will be led by Cancer Council Australia. It will include enhancements to Cancer Council Australia’s 13 11 20 phone line and digital offerings.
The Child and Youth Cancer Hub will provide cancer navigation, support and counselling services for all children or young people with cancer and their families. Canteen will lead the Hub, collaborating with Camp Quality and Redkite.
Cancer care nurse service
The Cancer care nurse service is led by the McGrath Foundation in partnership with the cancer sector. It will deliver around 250 Commonwealth-funded cancer care nurses in health and hospital services across Australia. This is in addition to the existing Commonwealth-funded prostate cancer nurses that the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia deliver.
This model aims to ensure those without access to tumour-specific nurses can still obtain the care and support they need, with nurses being trained with the skills and knowledge to work across multiple cancer types.
Specialist support services
Specialist support services provide information, support and advice tailored to the unique needs of people with particular tumour types. The cancer NGO sector will deliver this service.
All streams are designed to connect and integrate:
- with each other
- the broader health care system
- existing models of care.
Cancer Patient Support Program
We are investing $16.5 million to establish a Cancer Patient Support Program. This program will provide:
- better outcomes for patients in priority populations
- an increased equity across tumour types.