In the Australian context, cancer remains the largest disease burden and a leading cause of death. More than one million people in Australia today have been directly impacted by the disease. And yet despite our success at lifting overall survival rates, incidence and mortality is still influenced by where we live and what we earn, and our cultural and ethnic status affects our chances of preventing, detecting and effectively treating the disease.

Australia has among the highest survival rates in the world, but survival and survivorship outcomes are not enjoyed by all of us. The gap in cancer mortality rates between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is widening. And those living in financially disadvantaged areas and regional and rural communities are still disproportionately disadvantaged by the burden of death and disease that cancer imposes.

Gaps still exist for many marginalised groups, including those from non-English speaking backgrounds and older Australians, as well as those with mental illness, who so often face the additional challenges and distress of social isolation.

Join us to discuss critical access issues in cancer care and hear global national and local perspectives.