Support Australia’s efforts to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2035

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Support Australia’s efforts to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2035

C4 NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Cervical Cancer Controldata highlights Australia's progress towards elimination

In March 2025, released a new report highlighting gains from HPV prevention and control in reducing the burden and impact of cervical cancer. This and other work undertaken by is outlined under Strategic Target Six.

Reference:
Brotherton J, Machalek D, Smith M et al., 2024 Cervical Cancer Elimination Progress Report: Australia’s progress towards the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. Published online 14/03/2025, Melbourne, Australia, at https://www.cervicalcancercontrol.org.au

6.6 per 100,000
incidence rate in women (2020)

Supporting the Own It! campaign

In advance of the community facing phase of the ‘Own It!’ campaign, the worked in close collaboration with our partner organisations to lead a national cervical screening clinical education campaign (“Support the Choice”). This first phase was designed to increase confidence in the self-collection option amongst healthcare providers and encourage them to offer the choice to their patients. Funded by the Australian Government, it featured a national communication and clinical education campaign, a dedicated online resource hub and a number of -approved educational opportunities. See Strategic Target Four for further details.

National Cervical Screening Program modules release

The was contracted by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to update their modules ahead of the release of the 2025 updates to the Guidelines. The clinical education team worked in collaboration with our medical educator and Executive Team to rework the existing six modules into five new modules, making significant improvements to the interactivity of the modules during the updating process. In January 2025, the new and improved modules were published on the GPEx hosting platform and had nearly 1000 completions by the end of the 2024/25 financial year. While there has been great uptake by GPs, practice nurses are taking the lead which indicates these professionals are keen to be more involved in self-collection uptake, and cervical cancer elimination more broadly!

An example of the positive feedback we’ve received from course participants follows:

“The course is the best I have completed. I’m going to do it again just to reinforce my knowledge.” Practice Nurse

Point of care HPVHuman Papillomavirus-based screening

The has executed a contract with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to deliver point of care HPV-based screening, with co-design now underway with . This work builds on our involvement in the PREVENT trial which has shown high levels of acceptability in remote communities. The project aims to enhance cervical screening accessibility and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in a long-term, sustainable way. Implementation is scheduled to commence in the 2025/26 financial year, marking a significant step toward improved community-led screening solutions.

2025 Annual Report