The Albanese Labor Government is today launching a $10 million campaign to encourage more women to get screened for cervical cancer and help Australia stay on track to eliminate the cancer by 2035.
The Own It campaign is the first national cervical screening campaign in more than 20 years. It's aimed at raising awareness of testing in priority populations.
Cervical cancer is the most preventable cancer. Screening for cervical cancer is so important - more than 70% of Australians diagnosed with cervical cancer are under-screened or have never screened. Any woman who is aged between 25 and 74, who has had sexual contact, should screen every five years.
The campaign focuses on empowerment and choice in cervical screening following the Labor Government's introduction of self-collection in 2022. Self-collection allows women to do their own test, in private, at their local clinic using a swab.
Own It has been developed for women who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, multicultural, sexually and gender diverse, rural and remote, or living with disability.
Own It will be delivered through paid media including TV, social media, Spotify, YouTube, community education and grassroots engagement. The campaign was co-designed and will be delivered with the following partners:
- ACON
- The Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer
- The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)
- The Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative, an initiative of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA)
Own It will be co-launched with Screen Me! a Government-funded initiative to encourage women with disability to do their cervical screening and address equity.
To learn more about the various elements of the campaigns and cervical screening visit www.ownit.org.au, www.health.gov.au/screen-me, https://acpcc.org.au/self-collection-campaign/, and https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-cervical-screening-program
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister Ged Kearney MP:
"Australia has always punched above its weight when it comes to cervical cancer. We're on track to be the first country in the world to eliminate this deadly disease, but we need to make sure no one is left behind.
"We cannot eliminate cervical cancer without also closing the gap between Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women who are 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition."
Quotes attributable to Dr Dawn Casey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO):
"The national campaign is a significant step forward in raising awareness about cervical screening within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities."
"It builds on the successful implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection already taking place in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. "
Quotes attributable to Professor Marion Saville AM, Executive Director and Public Officer of the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer:
"Through the focus on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait, and multicultural communities, this campaign is vital in achieving the aims of the National Elimination Strategy, which identified the need to place a greater focus and more effort to achieve equity of access to culturally safe and inclusive cervical cancer prevention services."
"We've already seen a massive change in the past few months in the confidence of healthcare providers to offer the self-collection option."
Quotes attributable to Karen Price, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at ACON:
"This new and innovative national campaign builds on ACON's original New South Wales-focused cervical screening campaign which ran in 2023, and was supported by the Cancer Institute NSW."
"The new national campaign takes the same authentic approach to delivering adapted and tailored messages for a broader national audience."
Quotes attributable to Omar Al-Ani, Director of the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative:
"As an organisation that partners with multicultural communities, the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative knows how important it is for everyone to feel empowered and informed about their health choices."
"The Own It cervical screening campaign is a vital initiative that brings much-needed attention to self-collection as a safe and effective choice for women from all backgrounds."
Quotes attributable to Professor Deborah Bateson AM, Professor of Practice at the Daffodil Centre:
"We know that people with disability are less likely to access cervical screening than the general population."
Australia is on track to be one of the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer by as early as 2035 but we must make sure we leave no-one behind - this includes people with disability. "
