Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in this place to second the motion and recognise Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Australia, causing up to 33 per cent of deaths. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Breast cancer has impacted on my family, as my maternal grandmother lost both of her breasts to breast cancer and in the end it was cancer that took her life. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 70s and that was devastating for my family, as she had to leave her home and go south for treatment.

Cancer Australia has estimated that there will be 16,084 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in 2016. This will include 150 males and 15,934 females. Breast cancer is estimated to be 12.3 per cent of cancer cases diagnosed in 2016. In 2016 is estimated that 3,073 people will die from breast cancer—that is 27 males and 3,046 females. 6.5 per cent of cancer related deaths in 2016 will be attributed to breast cancer.

The chances of surviving breast cancer for at least five years, from research carried out between 2008 and 2012, is 90 per cent. The survival rate has moved from 72.1 per cent in 1983 to 1987. There were 61,554 people living with breast cancer at the end of 2010, diagnosed in the five-year period 2005 to 2010. Breast cancer was the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia in 2012. It is estimated that it will become the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in 2016. Whilst these figures are alarming, we have seen some positive changes. However, these numbers are people. They are grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters and, yes—some may be fathers and sons. The impact on families is significant.

Labor has always taken research and treatment of breast cancer very seriously, and during our time in government Labor funded the 57 McGrath Foundation specialist breast cancer nurses to provide critical practical care and emotional support to women diagnosed with breast cancer and their families. The McGrath Foundation is doing magnificent work in raising the profile of breast cancer in Australia and supporting women with breast cancer and their families, so it is extremely unfortunate that so many of these women have not been able to access this support.

In government, Labor committed nearly $4.1 billion to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. Our cancer care package—World Leading Cancer Care—invested in detection, prevention and cancer care and support. Our Health and Hospitals Fund built 26 regional cancer centres for patients in regional areas. My electorate of Herbert has benefited from one such regional cancer centre.

By any measure, a diagnosis of breast cancer is a scary thing. It is the second leading cause of premature death in women after lung cancer. Throughout the month of October we will remember the thousands of brilliant women we have lost. Throughout October we are reminded that we need to recommit to the fight. We know that participation in breast screening remains stuck at around 54 per cent. That is way too low. As is the case with the rest of their health system and society, there are inequalities. Less than four in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women are screened. Screening rates also lower for women in very remote areas and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

That is why the work of Breast Cancer Network Australia and its partners is so important. We need to keep up the effort to educate all Australians about the risk of breast cancer and the importance of screening. We need to provide the best possible support and advocacy for women with breast cancer.

During the election campaign, Labor was proud to commit $7 million to Breast Cancer Network Australia. That commitment would have supported BCNA's work for women with secondary breast cancer in particular. Of course Labor will not get to implement that commitment in this term of parliament, but we will work with the re-elected Turnbull government to improve the prevention, detection, treatment and care of breast cancer. All of us are united in the efforts to save as many women as possible.

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