Implementing Australia’s first national cancer control plan to shape Australian cancer control policy for the next decade and beyond

Abstract

Cancer outcomes in Australia are among the best in the world, but this is not the story for all Australians, with significant disparities in cancer outcomes and experiences among specific groups in Australian society. The Australian Government developed the Australian Cancer Plan (the Plan) as a national approach to improve cancer outcomes and experience for all. The Plan identifies six strategic objectives that require nationally coordinated effort, to achieve the Plan’s vision of world class cancer outcomes and experience for all Australians affected by cancer. The Plan emphasises person-centred approaches to cancer care, underpinned by a Health Equity in Cancer Outcomes Framework. As the Australian Government’s national cancer control agency, Cancer Australia is driving the Plan’s reform agenda through five implementation policy priorities: the development and establishment of an Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network; the development of a National Optimal Care Pathways Framework; the development of a National Comprehensive Cancer Data Framework and minimum dataset; the development of a National Genomics in Cancer Control Framework; and initiatives to improve cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These priorities will lay the foundation to deliver an integrated, accessible, and equitable cancer control system to deliver the Plan’s vision over the next decade.