Australian Cancer Plan

Objectives

The Australian Cancer Plan is a future-focused ten-year national framework to accelerate world-class cancer outcomes and experiences, improve the lives of people affected by cancer, and make equity in outcomes, particularly for people experiencing the poorest outcomes, a fundamental measure of success.[1][2][3]It seeks to reduce disparities in cancer risk, diagnosis, treatment and survival associated with location, background, personal circumstances and cancer type.[4]

• Maximise cancer prevention and early detection through culturally safe, evidence-based and personalised approaches that address modifiable risks and the social, cultural, commercial and environmental determinants of health.[5][6][7]
• Increase participation in BreastScreen Australia, the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and the National Cervical Screening Program, while tailoring prevention and screening to health status, cancer risk, and social and cultural needs.[7]
• Enhance consumer experience by treating people affected by cancer as partners in culturally safe, equitable and responsive care, with navigation, supportive care, clear communication, health literacy and reduced stigma.[5][8][9]
• Deliver world-class health systems through integrated, coordinated, data-driven and high-quality services that provide optimal care across geographic, socioeconomic, language and other barriers.[5][10]
• Strengthen dynamic foundations through modern cancer-control infrastructure, connected data, technology, research and clinical trials, including equitable access to digitally enabled care and trials.[11][12]
• Transform cancer care through an engaged, capable, diverse, future-focused and culturally safe workforce able to adopt new technologies and models of care.[5][12]
• Achieve equity in cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by supporting sovereignty, leadership, knowledge, strength and self-determination in a culturally appropriate, trauma-aware and healing-informed system free from racism and discrimination.[5][13]

Each Strategic Objective is supported by a ten-year Ambition Statement and two-year and five-year Goals.[1]The Plan applies person-centred, equity-focused, strengths-based, evidence- and data-driven, all-cancer and collaborative principles across the cancer continuum, from prevention and early detection to supportive, end-of-life and palliative care.[2]

Implementation

Implementation is a shared responsibility across the cancer-control sector, using national coordination, collaboration and partnership to build on existing national and jurisdictional plans.[14][15]Delivery centres people with cancer and their carers, connects services across the care journey, and uses cancer-specific Optimal Care Pathways and the Optimal Care Pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer as national best-practice standards.[15][1]

• Establish meaningful partnerships among governments, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, non-government organisations, researchers, clinicians, health services, consumers and communities.[15]
• Embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, co-design, culturally grounded practice, data sovereignty, place-based engagement and significant involvement in development, implementation and evaluation.[3][16][17]
• Complement the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Plan developed by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, and strengthen collaboration between mainstream cancer services and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector.[14][15]
• Use the Australian Cancer Plan Advisory Group for strategic cancer-sector advice and the Australian Cancer Plan Jurisdictional Reference Group for jurisdictional policy and clinical input.[6]
• Prioritise actions for two-year and five-year goals through decision matrices, including a matrix co-designed and applied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, policymakers and consumers.[2][3]
• Establish an Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network linking Comprehensive Cancer Centres, cancer services, regional hospitals, community services and primary care to share expertise, improve access and support care closer to home.[10]
• Develop national frameworks for distributed, networked comprehensive cancer care and for the development, updating, evaluation and uptake of Optimal Care Pathways, including pathways for priority population groups.[11]
• Evaluate, adapt and scale integrated, multi-channel and multidisciplinary cancer-navigation models, including culturally responsive communication and trauma-aware, healing-informed multidisciplinary care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.[8][9]
• Strengthen workforce supply and demand planning, multidisciplinary practice, continuing professional development, cultural safety training, and recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners.[18][19]
• Expand digital and virtual care, particularly for regional, rural and remote communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, alongside evidence-based and cost-effective models for survivorship, palliative and end-of-life care.[11]

Plan development was informed by public consultations, targeted engagements, stakeholder workshops, webinars, advisory groups, evidence synthesis and testing and refinement of ambitions, goals and actions.[5][2]Engagement generated more than 700 submissions and consultations involving more than 400 groups and 300 individuals.[5]Accountability mechanisms include patient-reported experience and outcome measures in national performance monitoring and reporting, monitoring of Optimal Care Pathway uptake against outcomes and experience, connected cancer-data frameworks, transparency across care networks, and monitoring compliance with culturally safe care and national standards.[10][11][13][17]The source does not specify a total budget, funding allocations, financing sources or quantified funding gaps.[10][11][12]

Monitoring & Evaluation

Evaluation and accountability centre on equity in cancer outcomes, evidence- and data-driven system improvement, and meaningful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in the Plan’s development, implementation and evaluation.[5][2][3]

• Use equity in cancer outcomes, particularly for people experiencing the poorest outcomes, as a fundamental measure of success.[5][2][3]
• Assess and prioritise actions linked to each Strategic Objective’s two-year and five-year goals through decision matrices, including a matrix co-designed and applied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, policymakers and consumers.[2][3]
• Assess the Plan against international quality standards using the Union for International Cancer Control checklist and the Core Elements of National Cancer Control Plans checklist, with an independent review of the final Plan anticipated.[3]
• Require significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement and leadership in Plan development, implementation and evaluation, supported by culturally grounded practice, inclusive partnerships, transparency and evaluation.[3][6]
• Monitor and evaluate implementation of Optimal Care Pathways through systems that link pathway uptake to patient outcomes and experience.[8][10]
• Develop a national framework to standardise the development, updating, evaluation and uptake of Optimal Care Pathways, including pathways for priority population groups.[11]
• Evaluate, adapt and scale nationally integrated cancer-navigation models across the cancer continuum.[8][9]
• Undertake ongoing assessment of evidence for risk-based, cost-effective population cancer screening.[8]
• Design and embed patient-reported experience measures and patient-reported outcome measures in national performance monitoring and reporting for all providers and population groups.[16][11]
• Collect patient-reported measures in a timely manner to identify service gaps, improve outcomes and assess differences between population groups.[10]
• Establish nationally agreed arrangements for collecting, reporting and integrating comprehensive cancer data, including a national approach to identifying and reporting Indigenous status in cancer care.[16][11]
• Improve collection, interpretation, linkage, sharing and national accessibility of cancer data across primary, specialist, community, acute, long-term and hospital settings.[10]
• Use data, research and clinical trials to support evidence-based care, system-performance monitoring, transparency, accountability and continuous improvement across cancer networks.[16][11]
• Strengthen accountability within distributed and networked cancer services through governance, transparency and continuous improvement arrangements.[11]
• Develop accreditation standards, workforce supply-and-demand models, role delineation, and national workforce frameworks, policies and strategies within two years.[13]
• Evaluate and extend cultural-safety training, monitor cultural safety across services, monitor compliance with national standards, and hold professionals and services accountable for culturally safe care.[13][17]
• Address racism and discrimination through accountability involving communities, service providers, regulatory authorities and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer workforce.[18][17][20]

The material does not specify a consolidated quantitative indicator set, reporting frequency or timetable, evaluation budget, named independent accountability body, or comprehensive surveillance framework beyond the mechanisms described.[8][10][11][12][19][20]

Costing & Financing

No total budget, quantified funding allocation, financing envelope, funding source, funding gap, resource-mobilisation target, costing methodology or economic assumption is specified in the supplied material.[6][8][10][11][12]

• Apply cost-effectiveness as a consideration when assessing risk-based population cancer screening, without providing monetary estimates or economic assumptions.[8]
• Implement innovative, evidence-based and cost-effective models of care for people living with and beyond cancer, including integrated palliative and end-of-life care.[11]
• Explore and test innovative health-service funding models to address need and improve cancer-care systems, without specifying their design, funding source or value.[11]
• Recognise workforce expansion, training, recruitment, retention, cultural-safety programmes and partnership activities as resource requirements, without assigning budgets or allocations.[19][13][17]
• Propose digitally enabled care, virtual care, data infrastructure, research, clinical trials and networked services, but do not quantify implementation costs or identify financing arrangements.[16][10][11][12]

The absence of quantified costs means that the source material does not enable assessment of affordability, funding adequacy, financing gaps or the resources required to deliver the Plan’s actions.[10][11][12]