Radiation Oncology Health Program Grants Scheme

About the scheme

The scheme provides grants to help public and private radiation oncology providers to buy or replace radiation therapy machines (called linear accelerators).

The scheme provides $3 million for each linear accelerator (linac). We pay this at a rate of:

$300,000 per year for up to 10 years for public providers
$375,000 per year for up to 8 years for private providers.

The grants are in addition to Medicare rebates that patients receive for radiation therapy services. Grant funding helps to cover the professional and operating costs of oncology services.

Why it is important

Radiation therapy is effective in treating half of all cancers. This scheme helps Australians to access radiation therapy treatment, regardless of where they live.

Goals

The scheme aims to:

enable cancer patients access to radiation oncology services
improve health outcomes for cancer patients
ensure radiation oncology services are of the highest quality and safety.

Priority areas

State and territory governments are responsible for planning radiotherapy services. We seek advice from states and territories to determine which health planning regions are most in need of oncology services by assessing:

cancer incidence
population numbers
existing services in each region.

New priority areas open for grant funding are published each February.

The following priority areas have been identified by states and territories for 2023-24:

2023–24 priority areas

State	Area	Status	Requirements
New South Wales	Tamworth Local Government area	Continuing	1 linear accelerator
New South Wales	Griffith Local Government Area	New	1 linear accelerator
New South Wales	Sutherland Shire Local Government Area	New	1 linear accelerator
New priority areas will be advertised for 8 weeks before we open applications.

Applying for ROHPG grant funding

New grants are available to approved facilities that provide radiation oncology services with linacs in priority areas.

Continuing priority areas

Applications are open throughout the year and will be assessed in order of submission.

New priority areas

The application period for new priority areas will start 8 weeks after the new priority areas are advertised and remain open for 4 weeks.

If no applications arrive in the initial 4 week application period, they will be assessed in order of submission.

Applications for the 2023–24 new priority areas are now closed until further notice.

Competing applications will be considered together and assessed against the criteria at Clause 6.2 of the Guidelines.

Becoming an approved facility

If your facility is not yet approved under Section 40 of the national Health Insurance Act 1973, you must first apply for approval.

Apply for funding

Once approved, you can apply for:

a new facility
extra equipment at an approved facility
replacement of existing equipment
relocation of an approved facility.

You must show you have notified the relevant state or territory health departments of your application. This includes the state or territory where the facility is based, and other relevant states or territories if you expect many interstate patients. This helps ensure state and territory governments can plan for radiation oncology services in the short and long term.

Apply for ownership transfer

If your facility changes ownership or control, you must apply for a transfer of ownership.

Assessment process

We assess all applications in line with the scheme’s administrative guidelines.