EMBARGOED 12.30PM 5/8 $1.3 million to fix a $2 billion problem: BCNA says BreastScreen funding doesn't add up
Breast Cancer Network Australia
*EMBARGOED 12.30PM 5/8/26*
$1.3 million to fix a $2 billion problem: BCNA says BreastScreen funding doesn't add up
The Australian Government's own modelling shows reforming BreastScreen Australia could cost up to $2 billion over the next decade. Today's announcement commits $1.3 million.
Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) welcomes the release of the BreastScreen Australia Review more than 1,000 days since it was first announced and the agreement of all Australian governments on a National Strategic Framework. However, the gap between what the review says is needed and what's been funded is the real story behind today's announcement.
The review confirms BreastScreen remains a trusted program that detects cancer early, to improve overall survival and outcomes. It also found participation stagnated at 51.7 per cent, well short of the 70 per cent target, and significantly worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and women in remote and disadvantaged communities.
The next phase of reform must prioritise equity, invest in AI and other technologies, and deliver nationally consistent, high-quality breast screening regardless of where a woman lives. This is not simply an opportunity to make an already successful program even better. It is a national equity, capacity and implementation challenge.
The 2025 UN Political Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases prioritises breast cancer prevention but a national screening program with no funded plan to close equity gaps puts those commitments at real risk.
BCNA welcomes the commitment to begin work on a national annual-screening policy, a National Participation Strategy and a strengthened Quality and Safety Framework. These are important first steps.
However, no implementation funding has been announced.
BCNA Director of Policy, Advocacy & Support Services, Vicki Durston, said the review has demonstrated what we’ve long known. “The $1.3 million may commence some important policy work, but it is not a national implementation reform package. It will not be addressing the much-needed issues - building the workforce, increasing service capacity or delivering new technology across Australia,” Ms Durston said.
The government's own commissioned modelling puts a price on the reform recommendations: $94 million over ten years to introduce modern 3D mammography, $764 million for a risk-based screening model, or up to $2 billion for broader reform including supplementary imaging for women with dense breasts. BreastScreen already costs governments $270 million a year to run as-is.“Women deserve a clear, funded implementation pathway that reflects the scale and urgency of the reform required,” Ms Durston said.
BCNA is calling on the government to:
● Publish a fully costed, ten-year implementation plan, with delivery dates and named accountability;
● Confirm the 70 per cent participation target remains the goal, with interim milestones and a funded plan to achieve it.
BCNA will judge the success of this reform by whether more women participate, whether inequities narrow and whether survival and outcomes improve.
BCNA Consumer Representative Krysty Sullivan shared her own experience:
"For women like me, whose cancer was missed by routine 2D screening, the implementation timeframes in this framework are painfully slow."
Contact details:
Steve Milton Breast Cancer Network Australia 0423584423 [email protected]
