CANCER COUNCIL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:23): My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister advise the house of the benefits of the partnering agreement signed today between the government and the Cancer Council of South Australia?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:23): I thank the member for Light for his important question and I acknowledge his very strong interest in health matters. Today, on behalf of the government of South Australia and SA Health, I signed a partnering agreement with the Cancer Council of South Australia. Under the terms of the agreement, the partnership will see a commitment of $54 million by the Cancer Council. These funds will be matched by state funding for cancer programs over the next five years and will be used to fund agreed joint projects to combat cancer.

In simple terms, this agreement will see a pooling of resources and a coordination of endeavours between the Cancer Council of South Australia and SA Health. This will ensure that there is no counterproductive duplication of effort in the fight against cancer in this state. It will also ensure the best possible outcome for every dollar spent by both the government and non-government sectors.

We will work jointly in three areas; namely, research supported by improved data collection; prevention and early detection programs; and support for suffers and their families, carers and friends. Under the specific details of the agreement each party will grant the other a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable, royalty-free non-commercial licence to use, reproduce and adapt for its own use. This will mean doctors and researchers working under the auspices of both SA Health and the Cancer Council will share information and all new technological and medical advances.

The first cancer control project to be funded by the new partnership has already been approved and will be the $4.4 million investment in the research infrastructure, including the redevelopment of the SA Cancer registries in the Department of Health and in our hospitals.

An upgrade of the registries will improve the accessibility, timeliness and accuracy of the data of cancer incidences in South Australia, which is critical for the evaluation and monitoring of cancer treatments and services. The upgrade to research infrastructure will put South Australian cancer researchers in a better position to compete for national funding, and make South Australia a more attractive research base for the nation's leading clinicians, which will further improve research outcomes for this state.

Each and every day, around 23 South Australians are diagnosed with cancer. It is a disease that will affect one in three people at some time in their lives. This partnering agreement is a significant step in the fight against cancer in South Australia, and will work in conjunction with the statewide cancer control plan launched by the government and the Cancer Council in 2006.

The Cancer Council is South Australia's leading non-government cancer control organisation dedicated to ensuring that South Australians are reducing their cancer risk and receiving the best cancer care. These objectives are, of course, shared by the government, and by working together we will be able to identify the best areas of research and provide help for those who are coping with the disease. I applaud the Cancer Council's initiative in this regard. It is committing very big funds to working on this very serious illness.