Leading Change: Advocacy

Ovarian Cancer Australia has become the leading national body, taking action for Australians affected by ovarian cancer.

Taking action for Australians affected by ovarian cancer through 4 priority areas:

Reduce variation in care, leading to improved survival and quality of life:

Develop a National Ovarian Cancer Registry - capturing information on treatments, testing and outcomes - which will help improve care for women with ovarian cancer
Ensure women can access specialist gynae-cological treatment centres through the Canrefer database
Engage with policy reviews and submission processes to advocate for greater access to better treatments.

Improve timely access to effective and affordable treatment

Engage with pharmaceutical companies to bring new treatment options to Australia
Advocate for the listing of new ovarian cancer treatment with Therapeutic Goods Administration and Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee
Work with leaders in the ovarian cancer space to find ways to make timely access to personalised medicine more equitable across the country, linking people in with existing programs and seeking opportunities to expand the work in this space.

Increasing large scale research funding

Engage with Government to highlight the need to prioritise rarer, low survival cancers like ovarian cancer
Advocate for substantial investments that align with the 2020-2025 National Action Plan.

Patient and family centred care and support

Teal Support Program - a free telehealth outreach program providing ovarian cancer expertise
Psychosocial research centre - identify issues key to those impacted by ovarian cancer and help to improve their outcomes and quality of life.

National Action Plan:

Underpinning these objectives is the work of the National Action Plan (NAP). The NAP sets out a roadmap to reduce the incidence, increase the survival rate and improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Australia.

The NAP was developed over many months in partnership with women living with ovarian cancer, key organisations and leaders in ovarian cancer including researchers, policy makers and ovarian cancer health professionals and it is this spirit of collaboration that has been able to guide the work of OCA and our advocacy agenda.