NO ONE LEFT BEHIND:
Cancer care every Victorian can
count on.
VCCC Alliance Members
How key players in the cancer system can assist the future Victorian Government
Victoria has a long history of investing in cancer research and care meaning that Victorians experience some of the world’s best cancer survival rates. However, the cancer burden is rising due to an ageing population and lifestyle and environmental factors. This places enormous strain on Victorian families, health services and the health budget. In addition, there is strong evidence that the great outcomes from cancer overall are not shared equally across the population with
THE CURRENT STATE
social determinants of health and system fragmentation, key drivers of unfair differences in care and results.
These factors are recognised in Victoria’s current cancer plan and this election proposal centres on how key players in the cancer system can assist the future Victorian Government to achieve better cancer outcomes for all Victorians and ensure no one is left behind.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Victoria, responsible for 27% of all deaths in 2024 and claiming 11,969 lives, or 33 deaths per day; and the incidence is rising.
The number of Victorians diagnosed with cancer each year are projected to increase from almost 40,000 in 2024 to around 60,000 annually by 2039, driven by population growth and ageing.
The Victorian Cancer Registry data estimates that cancer accounted for 176,152 years of life lost prematurely in 2024. Without coordinated improvement, the cumulative cost to everyday Victorians, their families, carers, the workforce and the health system will increase.
The health system already bears huge costs related to cancer and this is increasing rapidly.
> Cancer has been the largest disease group in health expenditure since 2014–15
> National cancer spending has more than doubled in a decade — from $9.1 billion (2013–14) to $19.7 billion (2023–24)
> Victoria’s cancer cost is estimated at ~$5.36 billion annually, including $2.88 billion in public hospital admitted care and outpatient clinics; accounting for 10% of public hospital spend.
> Victorian public hospital costs are forecast to grow to between $5.2-$6.1 billion in 2035.
Recent government investments have not kept pace with the growing cancer-related needs across the health sector. This is compounded by fragmentation across patient pathways, clinical expertise, capability and data, all of this undermines value for patients and creates
waste in the system. Inequities in outcomes persist – depending on who you are, and where you live – and this needs addressing to ensure no Victorian is left behind.
For example:
> Regional Victorians are 10 per cent more likely to be diagnosed and 14 per cent more likely to die from cancer than those in major cities
> Aboriginal Victorians are twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer and 3.4 times more likely to die from it
> The most socially disadvantaged Victorians are 25 per cent more likely to die from cancer compared to the rest of the population.
> Patients face significant out-of-pocket and travel burdens, averaging $774 per patient. Only $92 of this is reimbursed to regional patients; with those in outer metro severely disadvantaged.
> CALD patients were statistically significantly less likely to have any treatment within a year of diagnosis compared to patients from English speaking countries and more likely to have a longer time to first treatment compared to the statewide average and more public hospital emergency department presentations.
Unequal cancer outcomes are unjustified differences in healthcare services, procedures, or outcomes that cannot be explained by patient illness, medical evidence, or patient preferences and arise from:
> Fragmented pathways and poor navigation across diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and end-of-life care, causing delays and inconsistent transitions.
> Variable access to specialist expertise and evidence-based treatment, producing uneven outcomes.
THE OPPORTUNITY:
> Disconnected, incomplete, and underutilised data, limiting statewide visibility of performance, demand and variation.
> Workforce capability and capacity differences across locations, affecting timeliness and quality of care, and disparate collection of high-quality data to inform better practice.
What this means is that some Victorians aren’t getting the care they need, where and when they need it and are being left behind.
Fix the gaps, save lives, control costs
COSTS OF
THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR:
Earlier diagnosis and earlier treatment reduces both cost and saves lives.
However, too many people are missing out due to late diagnosis, delays in treatment through poor navigation or where the existing system is overloaded. Closing these gaps is one of the biggest opportunities to improve cancer care.
Late diagnosis or delayed treatment can add tens of thousands of dollars per patient — and significantly worsen patient outcomes and survival.
When cancer is found and treated earlier, patients have a better chance of living well and avoiding more complex, intensive care later. By helping more Victorians get the right care sooner, we can save lives, reduce pressure on health services, and make better use of every health dollar:
Late diagnosis or delayed treatment can add tens of thousands of dollars per patient — and significantly worsen patient outcomes and survival.
A stronger, fairer cancer system for every Victorian
The cancer sector is advocating a 3-pillar plan to strengthen the entire cancer system, to improve outcomes, reduce pressure on the health system and ensure that no Victorian is left behind. At its core this approach will:
Identify the gaps and fix them
Use data to identify gaps in care across the state: join and develop existing cancer datasets to support identification of unequal outcomes, performance monitoring for our health system and allow targeted improvement, particularly for priority populations.
Connect a fragmented system
Better connect services and systems so patients don’t fall through the cracks; linking health service networks and existing collaborations to rapidly translate research, review gaps in care or poorer outcomes and develop system enablers to address these. Review and roll out alternate service delivery models to reduce demand or cost on hospitals and those that successfully bridge rural and regional divides.
This model creates a better networked system that mobilises data, research and clinical expertise together with those who deliver cancer services. Organisations will lead on specific areas, utilising track record and existing expertise, leveraging, scaling and spreading historical investment in biomedicine.
Equity, workforce capacity and capability, and lived experience are foundational to this model. We seek to harness the collective expertise of cancer organisations across the state to ensure measures are practical, scalable and built to last.
“Now is the moment to act. The cancer burden is growing and if we don’t invest now, our most vulnerable Victorians will be left behind.”
Make care easier to access
Improve how Victorians enter and move through care, no matter who they are or where they live.
These three pillars of systems improvement will leverage the existing expertise and footprint of cancer actors in Victoria, including:
> Cancer Council Victoria,
> Victorian Integrated Cancer Services,
> Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium,
> Regional Trials Network, and
> the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance.
The price of doing nothing is higher costs, worse outcomes and deeper inequality.
This is the opportunity to invest in the system and deliver better cancer care for every Victorian.
Identify: Identify the gaps and fix them
Why this matters
Our understanding of patient outcomes is hampered by fragmented and disjointed cancer data, particularly between primary care, hospitals and cancer registries. These different data sets do not ‘speak’ to one another and are difficult to access.
Victoria has fallen substantially behind NSW and Queensland in data integration, despite having the most up to date Cancer Data Registry in Australia. The lack of connected data hinders our understanding of who is experiencing unequal outcomes and why, limiting our ability to define actionable targets for health investment efficiently. Victoria has also signed onto implementation of the National Cancer Data Framework, and our proposal will assist Government to achieve this commitment.
What we will do
Data saves lives — but we need to harness it better in Victoria to detect cancer earlier and give patients the best chance of survival. With the Victorian Government’s support Data Connect has linked fragmented cancer information across multiple cancer registries and health services.
Programs that will deliver
Data Connect - $4 million ($2 million p.a. for two years from 2028-29)
Data Connect is a four-year Victorian Government initiative to establish Australia’s first comprehensive routes-to-diagnosis research capability by linking general practice, screening, PBS, MBS, cancer registry and hospital data across the state to transform cancer detection, diagnosis and survivorship. This will enable:
> General Practice risk-prediction tools,
> optimise care pathways,
> implement enhanced survivorship care and target interventions to reduce disparities,
Now it is time to scale up further and put the evidence to work – by creating targeted interventions and adopting new innovations quickly into clinical practice.
Data Connect+ will establish Australia’s first comprehensive routes-to-diagnosis research capability by linking general practice data to screening, PBS, and MBS data for the first time across the whole of the state.
We will also advocate and work with the sector to establish a Victorian data consortium on cancer, bringing together currently disconnected cancer data holders across the system
It will connect existing assets across:
> Cancer registries
> Hospitals and health services
> Primary care
> Clinical registries and research networks.
The aim is to create enduring connections and align and link data to identify and understand routes to diagnosis, gaps in treatment and care or poorer outcomes.
Data Connect directly delivers Victorian Cancer Plan commitments, maximises the benefit of prior investment for General Practitioners and patients and positions Victoria as the national leader in comprehensive cancer care research.
Impact
For Victorians, this will mean better targeted care, focused where outcomes are poorest. At the cancer system level, it will enable insight into the drivers of system inefficiencies and enable statewide reform.
CONNECT:
Connect a fragmented system
Why this matters
The Victorian cancer system is fragmented with no clear “front door”, leading to poorer outcomes for Victorians and rising costs of cancer for the government. Cancer diagnosis can happen at multiple points within the health system – some entry points lead to seamless and optimal treatment pathways while others are more fragmented and less clear. Better connected cancer systems can turn this fragmentation into more efficient, cost effective and coordinated care, relieving pressure on other parts of the healthcare system, such as emergency departments.
What we will do
This pillar prepares the cancer system for the future by connecting the existing collaborations and networks for scale and amplification, so more Victorians can access consistent, high-quality care, no matter where they live.
Rather than creating new structures, this program will focus on strengthening what already exists, linking system enablers from the partners and beyond. It will invest in:
> navigation and referral tools,
> consumer training,
> workforce capability,
> clinical trials, and
> optimal care pathways
All of these programs have been tested and proven. Now is the time to fund them to scale across the system to benefit all Victorians.
We also advocate for expanding and enhancing the awareness and uptake of clinical trials across the State through collaborative networks as well as initiatives such as the Cancer Council Victoria’s Cancer Trials Link platform. Increasing equitable participation in clinical trials, particularly for regional, rural and priority populations and integrating trials into routine cancer care is important to reduce unequal outcomes.
Programs that will deliver
VCCC Alliance
Clinical Translational Network (CTN)
$12 million ($3 million p.a. for four years)
Scale and expand the CTN to coordinate clinical leadership as a statewide platform for research translation, clinical leadership and system improvement. Currently comprising 11 tumour streams & five cross-cutting themes across 37 positions, the CTN will be expanded to 70 positions. This will:
> include allied health, psycho oncology, geriatric oncology, paediatric and AYA oncology, and women’s cancers
> embed implementation science to translate research into practice,
> reduce inequity through innovative models,
> accelerate evidence-based care adoption and improve equitable access across Victoria.
Centre for Cancer Education
$8 million ($2 million p.a. for four years)
Scale the Centre for Cancer Education existing statewide digitally enabled platform that already upskills the cancer workforce. This will:
> Fund workforce development to accelerate research translation,
> implement top of scope nursing, allied health and medical models,
> improve role utilisation, professional satisfaction and retention, and
> enable equity of training across Victoria, particularly regional areas.
Impact
A connected, learning cancer system that delivers seamless care - from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and end of life care.
Make care easier to access
Why this matters
No Victorian should be left behind when it comes to cancer care. At the moment, improved models of care are not reaching everyone across the state. Best practice models that are successfully trialled in one location may never be experienced by a patient living 150km away.
This means patients and families are often left to navigate the system themselves, trying to find the best care rather than being supported by a system that consistently delivers it. It also creates unequal access, delays in care and avoidable pressure on health services, particularly for regional, rural and disadvantaged communities.
Victoria needs a practical way to identify what works, reduce unnecessary variation, and scale proven improvements quickly and consistently across the cancer system.
What we will do
Partners across the cancer sector will establish a statewide improvement mechanism to identify gaps, duplication and unequal outcomes in cancer care, and support the scaling of proven models across Victoria. We will review and roll out alternate service delivery models to reduce demand or cost on hospitals and those that successfully bridge rural and regional divides.
Led collaboratively, this approach will draw on existing networks, data insights, clinical expertise and research translation capability across the membership.
A statewide improvement consortium will connect evidence, data and quality improvement so that successful innovations do not remain localised but are translated into better care for patients across the state. Ongoing investment for programs in this pillar to implement scaled recommendations from the collaborative network is recommended to continue reaping the benefits of connected expertise.
Programs that will deliver
Statewide referral and navigation platform
$10 million ($2.5 million p.a. for four years)
Adapt the NSW CanRefer model into a Victorian statewide digital referral and navigation platform linking verified cancer specialists, Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT) meetings and treatment centres, embedding MDTs for second opinions and complex, coordinated planning. Integrated with General Practice software, it will reduce delays, improve care coordination and provide equitable access, particularly for regional and rural patients.
Regional and Outer-metro System Navigators
$10 million ($2.5 million p.a. for four years)
Establish a statewide network of non clinical cancer system navigators embedded in regional and outer metro Health Service Networks. This will:
> streamline referrals, diagnostics and treatment pathways,
> reduce delays, duplication and inappropriate tertiary escalation,
> improve access to local care, clinical trials and support services, and
> centralise coordination for consistency, shared learning and integration with multidisciplinary teams and reform.
This is particularly critical for regional and outer metro patients in Victoria as they currently face significant delays in cancer diagnosis and timely treatment commencement due to poor symptom appraisal, uneven distribution of oncology services and inconsistent development and uptake of tele oncology models, resulting in longer wait times and greater barriers than metropolitan patients. This underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to improve access.
Symptom and Urgent Review Clinics
$4 million ($1 million p.a. for four years)
Roll out statewide tools, education and telehealth models to increase access to Symptom and Urgent Review Clinics (SURC) and clinical nurse consultants for CALD and priority populations. This will:
> improve symptom management closer to home
> reduce avoidable emergency department presentations, and
> support clinicians with culturally appropriate resources effectively.
Managing Demand for our Hospitals
$8 million ($2 million p.a. for four years)
Establish a coordinated approach to managing demand for our hospitals: reviewing and rolling out alternate service delivery models to reduce demand and cost. Focus on better use of available workforce capacity. This model would include:
> review nurse and allied health-led ambulatory services in Victoria and beyond,
> exploration of alternative and expanded workforce models, including advanced practice nursing roles where clinically appropriate,
> work with health services to scale those that reduce demand, are cost effective and/or successfully bridge rural and regional divides.
This approach would help reduce long waits, improve access for rural, regional and public patients, optimise specialist capacity, and create scalable models for statewide implementation.
Impact
A redesigned, responsive cancer system that can meet the projected cancer burden in Victoria – 59,000 new diagnoses by 2039 - in years to come. For Victorians with cancer and their families, this means high quality care that is consistent, accessible and close to home, no matter their postcode.
Victoria is at a turning point
Cancer cases are rising, system pressure is growing, and too many Victorians are missing out on timely high-quality care. We already know what works, but people are being left behind.
We call on all political parties to commit to this reform and partner with the cancer sector to deliver a cancer system that works for every Victorian, now and into the future.
This proposal provides a clear practical pathway to fix the gaps, connect the system and scale care to make it easier to access. It also positions Victoria to build a world leading, connected cancer system that delivers better outcomes, fair access and long-term sustainability.
The choice is clear, act now to improve outcomes and manage future costs, or allow inequity and system pressure to grow.