Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

I ask the parliamentary secretary, if he is unable to answer the questions on childhood obesity, whether he could commit to procuring an answer from the minister for health, who is not here and ought to be here, and that that answer be provided to us in writing. In the same vein, I ask: if he is unable to answer this series of questions, will answers be procured for us? This series of questions relates to the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. I would seek an answer from the parliamentary secretary as to whether or not the screening program is on track for an August roll-out as promised or whether that promise is about to be broken and an August deadline not achieved. Are there agreements with the states and territories about the National Bowel Cancer Screening initiative? If there are, when were they signed? If there are not, when we will they be signed?

Can the parliamentary secretary confirm that what will actually happen is not a national roll-out but a region-by-region roll-out? Is it correct that this will not include major parts of the country? If so, which parts of Australia will miss out and when will there be a national program? Is the limitation on the roll-out because there is currently no way of ensuring that people who get a positive first instance test result will be able to get access to a colonoscopy? What procedures are in place to ensure that everybody who gets a positive first instance test result will get a colonoscopy in a reasonable time frame? How will this work for patients in remote and rural areas? Who will bear the medical indemnity implications if a patient with a positive first instance test result then does not get timely access to a colonoscopy? Is it correct that programs to ensure Indigenous Australians get access to bowel cancer screening are still only at ‘a fairly early stage’, as we were told at Senate estimates?

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