Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak about Lung Health Awareness Month. May being Lung Health Awareness Month and as chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Lung Health in this place, it's quite appropriate for me to stand up and let everyone know that this month we're celebrating Lung Health Awareness Month, a time to stop to reflect and to bring real attention to an issue that quietly affects millions of Australians each and every day. Breathing is something that we rarely think about. It happens naturally, effortlessly, constantly—until it doesn't. Healthy lungs are fundamental to life from the moment we take our first breath, through childhood, through adulthood, right through. Our lungs carry us through every experience, every conversation, every step. And yet, despite how essential they are, lung health is often overlooked, taken for granted until it is compromised.

I've been a long-time advocate for Lung Foundation Australia, and I'm proud to serve, as I said earlier, as the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Lung Health. Through this work over the many years, we've seen how widespread and serious lung disease is in this country. Conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as COPD; lung cancer; asthma; bronchitis; lung disease and many others do not just affect the lungs. They affect the lives of everyday people, their families and everyone connected to them. They shape how people live day to day, whether they can walk to the shops, whether they can play with their grandkids or their kids, whether they can work and whether they can sleep. They affect families, they affect carers and they place real and growing pressure on our healthcare system.

In the community in my electorate, the federal electorate of Adelaide, these impacts are not distant or theoretical. They are deeply real. Between 2018 and 2022, more than 1,900 people in my community lost their lives to COPD. In just one year, more than 3,000 hospitalisations were considered potentially preventable. COPD is now one of the leading causes of preventable hospital admissions. But behind every number there's a person—a life saved, a family affected, a future changed. For me, this is not just something I speak about as a representative; it's something I experience as well, having previously been, it's embarrassing to say, a smoker. I smoked all my life from the age of 16 right through, gave it up and started again. I'm quite pleased that, at the moment, I am not smoking and haven't for a number of years, but it affected my lungs. You could say, 'You're stupid for smoking.' Yes, certainly I was. But I grew up in an era where everyone smoked, where everyone turned a blind eye to it. It was just part of everyday life. Because of that I've developed asthma and that's what got me involved with the Lung Foundation.

There are many thousands of Australians who have developed lung cancer who have never smoked in their entire lives, so it shouldn't be a stigma for those people who have. Many people develop COPD and they've never smoked in their entire lives. But there is a stigma still attached to lung disease that 'he or she must have been a smoker'. It's also about recognition of people who, through no fault of their own—in my case it was my own fault. I'm doing quite well. I use my puffer occasionally and so far, so good.

Recognising lung health is also about recognising that you can turn it around. There are things we can do with medication, with a bit of exercise, with the ability to see your doctor on a regular basis and being monitored as to where your lungs are actually at. For those who do have lung diseases or COPD or asthma, it affects everyone around them—their partner, their children, their friends, their carers. Lung disease does not happen in isolation; it becomes part of the life of the whole family.

As I said, this month really matters because it's about awareness. Awareness is not just about information; it's about intervention. Too often the early signs of lung disease go unnoticed: a cough that lingers, shortness of breath, a sense of fatigue—these symptoms are brushed aside. People tell themselves they're just getting older or 'I'm not fit enough' or they're just a little out of shape—just something temporary. By the time the diagnosis comes, the condition has already progressed.

But we know something really important that should be a guide for everything we do in this space, and that is early detection. When lung disease is detected early, outcomes improve dramatically. People receive the right care sooner, they remain healthier for longer, they maintain independence and they avoid unnecessary hospitalisations. Every diagnosis opens a door to real intervention, whether it is smoking cessation support, pulmonary rehabilitation, vaccination or stronger primary care—these are not small changes; they are changes that can extend life and improve its quality. This is why the work of Lung Foundation Australia is so vital. They provide more than information; they provide guidance, support and advocacy. They stand alongside Australians navigating diagnosis and treatment. They give people a pathway through the uncertainty. And they continue to advocate for a health system that responds earlier, more effectively and more compassionately.

Lung disease is not rare. It will affect one in three Australians over their lifetime. That's not a small cohort of numbers. It's not a niche issue. The reality is that it touches almost every Australian or a family member at some point in their life in one way or another. Lung Health Awareness Month is more than a moment of recognition. It's a call to act. It's a call for all of us, as members of this place, as members of our community and as a nation, to take lung health seriously, to understand the warning signs, to speak openly about the symptoms, to encourage early conversations with GPs and to support better systems for prevention, diagnosis and care.

Ultimately, this is about something deeply human. It's about dignity, it's about the ability to live life fully and it's about ensuring that Australians are not defined or limited by a condition that too often goes unnoticed and untreated until it's too late. Early diagnosis is key, even if it's a small cough or a sniffle or a bit of breathing that just doesn't sound right. We can't afford to wait until lung health becomes a crisis. We must act earlier, as governments we must invest smarter and we must ensure that awareness, support and care are accessible for every Australian who needs them.

Today I acknowledge every Australian living with lung disease, every carer who stands beside them, every health professional providing support and every organisation working to improve outcomes. The Parliamentary Friends of Lung Health have very informative regular events up here with the Lung Foundation. We have doctors, professionals and people who are living with the symptoms of lung disease come in and talk to us. We've heard of some cases where people let it go too long; they could have been diagnosed earlier and could have had their lives turned around. We've had some great speakers. Next time you get an email that says 'friends of lung health', please come along.

I'll leave this House with this thought. Breathing is the most fundamental part of life. When something so essential is at risk, it becomes our responsibility to act because every breath matters and every Australian deserves the chance to take each one with strength, dignity and hope.

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