Cancer

Cancer affects many Australians and has a major impact on individuals, families and the community. Find out what we’re doing to improve prevention and treatment of cancer.

Learn about cancer

Find out about cancer — what it is, different types of cancer, how we prevent, diagnose, treat and manage cancer.

Find out about cancer screening

Understand why cancer screening is important and what programs are available.

Minimise your risk of getting cancer

Find out what you can do to minimise your chances of developing cancer.

Discover what we're doing about cancer

Learn about the work we're doing to improve the prevention and treatment of cancer in Australia.

Cancer Council Australia hotline

131 120

If you have a question about cancer or if you need support, call the Cancer Council Australia. The hotline is open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday or visit their website for more information.

Did you know?

144,700

new cancer cases are estimated to be diagnosed in 2019 – 1 every 4 minutes

3 in every 10

deaths in Australia in 2016 were due to cancer

49,900

people are estimated to die from cancer in 2019 – 137 deaths every day

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Cancer Overview

Cancer screening programs

BreastScreen Australia Program

The BreastScreen Australia Program aims to reduce illness and death from breast cancer by detecting the disease early. Women aged 50 to 74 years of age are invited to have a free screening mammogram every 2 years.

National Cervical Screening Program

The National Cervical Screening Program aims to reduce illness and death from cervical cancer. Women aged 25 to 74 years of age are invited to have a cervical screening test every 5 years.

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program

The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program aims to reduce deaths from bowel cancer by detecting the early signs of the disease. Eligible Australians from 50 to 74 years of age are sent a free, simple test that is done at home. Find out how the program works and how to do the test.

National Indigenous Bowel Screening Pilot

This pilot program aims to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to do the bowel screening test. It provides resources for families and communities, and primary health care professionals participating in the pilot program.

Resources

Resources

BreastScreen Australia Data Dictionary

This data dictionary contains definitions used by the BreastScreen Australia Program so that data collected for monitoring, evaluating and accrediting services is consistent across Australia.

Screen Me stakeholder toolkit for health organisations

This stakeholder toolkit contains key messages, social content, images, and editorial content regarding cervical screening for women and people with disability that can be used directly, or adapted or edited for external channels.

Screen Me stakeholder toolkit for disability organisations

This stakeholder toolkit contains key messages, social content, images, and editorial content regarding cervical screening for women and people with disability that can be used directly, or adapted or edited for external channels.