Adjournment Debate

LEUKAEMIA FOUNDATION

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (16:47): A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of opening the Leukaemia Foundation's patient education day. Leukaemias, lymphomas, myelomas and related blood disorders can develop in anyone of any age at any time. Leukaemia is the number one childhood cancer in Australia but is most common in adults. With few clearly identified risk factors and often no real warning, the impact of a diagnosis is immense and usually immediate for both the patients and their families.

In acute or aggressive cases, the patient typically requires immediate and intensive treatment, often within 24 hours of diagnosis, to ensure the best possible outcomes. On average, treatment can range from six months to one year and even longer. In reality, this means leaving work, school and family commitments, with often little or no notice at all, to commence treatment.

Combined with costly medical bills and loss of income, many families find themselves in difficult financial circumstances whilst coping with the shock and emotional turmoil associated with the diagnosis. It is during these times that the Leukaemia Foundation can step in to support the patient and their family so that they can concentrate on what is most important—getting well.

The Leukaemia Foundation of Australia has a South Australian patient care village, and I will give you some background information. On average, 16 South Australians are diagnosed each week with a form of blood cancer, and more than 2,500 South Australians are currently living with blood cancer, leukaemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma. South Australia has the highest rates of leukaemia and myeloma in Australia.

The Leukaemia Foundation's two core activities involve identifying and funding the most promising blood cancer research programs and also providing practical care to blood cancer patients and their families. The Leukaemia Foundation funds cutting edge research into better treatments and cures through its national research program, dedicating $3.5 million to research in the 2008-09 year.

The Foundation also funds research grants, scholarships and fellowships for talented young researchers to promote innovative research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of these cancers and related disorders. Research is making a real difference in our lifetime. Twenty years ago, children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia had a 30 per cent chance of survival, and now they have an 80 per cent chance of survival, but there is still a long way to go, with the survival rates in adults still just over 40 per cent.

The practical support provided by the Leukaemia Foundation comes in the form of transport to and from their place of treatment, education, financial assistance and accommodation. A blood cancer diagnosis usually has a profound effect on the individual and their family, especially for people from regional or remote communities. A patient can be diagnosed and on a plane to Adelaide on the same day, uprooting the person from their family, their friends, their work and their home.

Currently, the Leukaemia Foundation provides a home to these individuals and their family or carer. The purpose of providing the accommodation is to minimise the trauma associated with the upheaval of relocation and to give the patient every opportunity to concentrate solely on their treatment. In Adelaide, the Leukaemia Foundation owns two properties in which it provides accommodation to patients and carers. The average length of stay in the apartments is 15 weeks but can be as long as two years.

The accommodation is principally used by patients who permanently reside more than 100 kilometres from the Adelaide GPO—people from places such as Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, the Riverland, mining and other remote communities, and also interstate locations, including Darwin, Alice Springs and Broken Hill. Awareness of the project is high in these communities, and they have been the principal supporters of the project to date. The accommodation is provided at absolutely no cost to the patient or their carer. Demand for these apartments is high, with the demand approximately double that of what is currently available.

To overcome the accommodation shortage, the Leukaemia Foundation is constructing a new, dedicated accommodation village that includes 14 two and three bedroom self-contained units and recreation and patient care support facilities. The South Australian state government has granted a 7,000 square metre parcel of land located in the federal seat of Adelaide at the Hampstead rehabilitation site in Northfield. Council approval was given in April 2010, and it is expected that construction will commence towards the end of the year.

When completed (expected to be late 2011), the Leukaemia Foundation will have a state-of-the-art facility that will allow residents to concentrate solely on their blood cancer treatment. The facility will cost approximately $10 million. The Leukaemia Foundation has received $1.5 million in donations for the project and has existing residential accommodation assets of $2.5 million which will sold, meaning $6 million is required for the project to become fully funded.