National Footy Colours Day

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:18): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges that 2 September is National Footy Colours Day;

(b) encourages everyone to wear their favourite football team's colours to help raise money for children living with cancer;

(c) assist in making a difference to the lives of children fighting cancer by donating to Fight Cancer Foundation; and

(d) notes the fantastic work done by our sporting community in South Australia to raise funds and awareness of cancer.

Each year, the South Australian community gets involved in Fight Cancer Foundation Footy Colours Day. From community groups to schools and businesses, throughout September, money is being raised to help kids fight cancer by people wearing their footy team's guernsey, scarves, beanies, hats, or whatever colours they can find. Each year, South Australians are part of hundreds of thousands of Australians standing shoulder to shoulder to unite in the fight against cancer by wearing with pride the team colours of their team, their state or their nation throughout September at their school, workplace or club.

Of course, there is the now famous McGrath Foundation Pink Test series, as well as the one-day international, wearing pink clothes, using pink balls, pink stumps, pink bats, and the many pink banners. The theme that comes with that day is now famous in Australia's sporting scene, and it is one of the great calendar events anywhere in the world.

Many businesses have become involved over the years, and I know that Holden workers have proudly worn their Central District guernseys to raise money for the good cause and a number of schools hold a variety of events. Many of the Riverland and Mallee schools take part in the Footy Colours Day, whether that be through raising funds with a sausage sizzle lunch, cupcakes decorated with their footy colours, kicking the footy and handball contests or lollies in a jar game, or simply wearing their favourite team colours at a national, state or local level.

Some of the schools that have taken part in recent footy seasons include the Renmark Primary School, Our Lady of the River in Berri, Cobdogla Primary, St Albert's in Loxton, Kingston-on-Murray Primary School, Pinnaroo Primary School, Waikerie High and Ramco Primary. It is a very long list and I could go on with the many schools that I have particularly in my electorate.

One year, for example, at St Albert's School in Loxton, the SRC organised a Footy Colours Day to raise money for cancer and changed it slightly so that students and teachers could wear any sporting colours, such as footy, netball, tennis, basketball, hockey, soccer—any sport that any child supported. It is a very good cause, and the SRC was very passionate about it all. All money raised went to the Cancer Council to help find a cure for cancer.

During treatment and recovery, young Australians with cancer often miss a lot of school and fall behind in their education. Footy Colours Day directly supports Fight Cancer Foundation's education support program, which works with major paediatric hospitals to keep kids with cancer engaged with their education. There is a bit of history with the Footy Colours Day. Since 2005, Fight Cancer Foundation and Footy Colours Day have helped young learners continue with their education while they receive treatment for cancer.

Fight Cancer Foundation's education support program was developed in 2005 in partnership with the Royal Children's Hospital Education Institute in Melbourne to address the gap in educational support for kids and young people living with cancer. Today, the programs operate in major paediatric hospitals in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. In South Australia, the program runs through the Women's and Children's Hospital.

In 2016, almost 334,000 people united in the fight against cancer by wearing their team's colours with pride to their club, workplace or school, raising more than $300,000. In July this year, young learners from the Fight Cancer Foundation education support program in Adelaide joined some of the Manchester United and Liverpool legends from Battle of the Reds for a special morning tea at Government House, kindly hosted by His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le and his lovely wife, Lan.

The Governor of South Australia and his wife are supporting many sporting clubs also taking part in other areas of fundraising for cancer and other worthy causes. Of course, we have talked about the pink breast cancer awareness, the Riverland Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Cancer Council of South Australia and the Riverland Relay For Life to name a few. They have raised $14,000 in 2017 alone, and we are only halfway through the year.

I would like to acknowledge the recent Lions Love Lani Greatest Shave fundraiser. The 15-year-old Lani is from Renmark, and she was recently diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. She and her mother, Saffron, now need to spend the next six to nine months in Adelaide so that Lani can undergo intensive chemotherapy, possible surgery and/or radiotherapy to fight the cancer. This fundraiser was organised by the Lyrup Lions football and netball clubs and Lani's family, in the hope of raising funds to assist with the costs associated with Lani's treatment and temporary living arrangements in Adelaide.

I am sure that regional members know just how inconvenient it is to travel to Adelaide for medical procedures, particularly for an extended period of time. There is the cost of being away from home, from friends, from their school and from their local community. The community rallied and raised $15,000, with hundreds of people at the Lyrup Community Club, and the Lyrup football and netball clubs, rallying around the fellow Lion. About 15 people shaved their heads for the cause on that night. That is an example of how local sporting clubs can play an important role in helping those in need and raising funds for cancer and other important fundraising ventures.

The Renmark Rovers hosted a charity game. About a week ago, the Renmark Football Club—or the Renmark Rovers as they are affectionately known—raised money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, by hosting a charity day at its home game against Barmera-Monash. The Renmark Football Club President, John Persinos, said that the idea was a way to utilise the strengths of the club to raise money for charity. It also shows resilience: it is about a community club coming together and supporting people in need. It is about a regional community footy and netball sporting club supporting people in their community who are dealing with cancer. He said:

We are in a position as a major club in the community to help assist people who are going through tough times. We are in a situation where we can help the Make-A-Wish foundation put smiles on people's faces and that is something we really want to get on board with. We have so many connections through the footy club and there are so many parents involved in the footy club, so it is a great opportunity to do something for people who are [tackling tough challenges through their life].

The Renmark Paringa Council and the Renmark netball and tennis clubs also got on board, and it is great to see that as a community, as a town, they all rallied to make a difference. They also played a Make-A-Wish Foundation cup on that day. There were plenty of fundraising activities during the day with Specky Magee, clowns, face painting and jumping castles for all the kids, and a dinner and auction that night. The club is hoping that it will become an annual event. Dallas Zeliff from the Riverland branch of the Make-A-Wish Foundation said:

I think it as an extraordinary effort by the footy club to organise this event…We rely very heavily on our fundraising in the Riverland and local businesses have been extremely generous to us in the past. For a sporting club to come on board like this is just terrific.

If people want more information to register or donate, please visit the www.fightcancer.org.au/footy-colours-day and remember to use the hashtag #FootyColoursDay when posting your picture wearing your footy colours or your sporting colours on social media.

I encourage everyone to get involved and donate to a wonderful cause. Whether it is a sporting club, a business, a school or a local community coming together to support those people who are less fortunate and who are dealing with cancer, an insidious disease, it is a show of support and a good gesture. I support Footy Colours Day.

Ms COOK (Fisher) (12:28): I have the pleasure today of rising and speaking in support of this fabulous motion brought to the house, and I commend the member for Chaffey for bringing it to us. Education is an important social determinant of health, and I strongly believe in the importance of providing learners with cancer exactly the same opportunities for education as other children and students who are not suffering from this disease.

Fight Cancer Foundation was formed in 1989 as the Bone Marrow Donor Registry, by a small group of families affected by leukaemia, with the aim of establishing a donor registry to give hope and save lives. The organisation now supports cancer research, focusing on leukaemia and other blood cancers. It also provides accommodation centres for people undergoing cancer treatment and, as mentioned, education programs.

Cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, surgery and a bone marrow transplant, with its ensuing recovery, can be challenging and may result in prolonged absences from school. This can have effects on the social and emotional wellbeing of learners with cancer, particularly when transitioning back to school. It is also extremely disruptive to relationships in the developmental stages of life. Many children experience a loss of self-esteem, loneliness, depression and may drop class levels when they return to school, finding it difficult to engage with their education.

Since 2005, Fight Cancer Foundation has asked all Australian school organisations and sporting clubs on national Footy Colours Day to unite and wear their favourite football team colours and make a donation. The day is usually held on the first Friday in September or any day of their choice. Last year, over 334,000 people united in the fight against cancer by wearing their team colours with pride. The funds raised through Footy Colours Day are used to work with major paediatric hospitals to keep kids with cancer engaged with their education.

In South Australia, this is provided through the Women's and Children's Hospital and has a multidisciplinary approach involving patients, their families, medical teams and teachers supporting children with cancer to stay connected and make the transition back to school as easy as possible. It is a flexible, tailored education program that works around their illness and treatment, allowing them to resume their lives as quickly as possible.

I would also like to congratulate the Department for Education and Child Development on helping to form this amazing partnership, which really would not be possible without their commitment. I also pay tribute to and thank the fantastic teachers who work in this environment and go above and beyond every single day that they are working with children there. At this time also, I would love to acknowledge the huge contribution generally made by the sporting community in South Australia, raising funds and awareness of cancer by participating actively in initiatives such as Footy Colours Day, the Pink Sports Day organised by Breast Cancer Network Australia, and the Beat Cancer Tour, organised by the Cancer Council SA during the Santos Tour Down Under.

Sports communities also get behind many other wonderful causes. Recent events I have been involved in and attended include the Port Power AFL round at Adelaide Oval that was dedicated to Welcome to Australia, which provided a great opportunity for fundraising and awareness for our multicultural programs. Also, many clubs get involved in the White Ribbon rounds, at both local level and league level. This past weekend, the Showdown game was played during DonateLife Week. I participated in the awareness-raising campaign, albeit very briefly until we were nearly blown away out the front in the plaza. That provided a great opportunity, using other advertising medium within the ground, to create awareness about organ donation, a cause close to my heart.

Over the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to attend the local Red Ball at the town hall, representing the health minister. I have met the chair of Fight Cancer Foundation, Leonie Walsh, who has a particular personal connection with cancer, having had her own experience and a bone marrow transplant in 1989. Since then, she has also taken on great leadership roles as Victoria's inaugural Chief Scientist, and she has also been given an honorary doctorate at the Swinburne University of Technology. I have been hosted on both occasions at these events by one of the managing directors, Eric Wright, who cannot say enough about the great work being done in a number of hospitals across Australia by Fight Cancer Foundation.

I thank the member for Chaffey. These are partnerships that need to be recognised by all members in this place, and I thank him for bringing forward the important issue. I commend the motion to the house.