Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] According to the Children's Cancer Institute, in Australia more than 1,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year. Cancer kills more children than any other disease in Australia. Approximately three children and adolescents per week die from cancer in Australia. Two-thirds of children who survive cancer suffer serious long-term effects. Worldwide, about 300,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in children and adolescents. Let's let the figures sink in for a moment. This is the devastating reality that many Australian families face when a child is diagnosed with cancer. There are many different cancers a child can get, but some of the most common childhood cancers are leukaemia, brain cancer, neuroblastoma, sarcoma and lymphoma.

Last month was International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, when people were urged to wear gold ribbons, the international awareness symbol for childhood cancer, to shine a light on the devastating diseases and the impacts they have on families going through them in the local community. I'm calling on all Australians and the government to join the fight to beat childhood cancer, not just every year in September during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month but also throughout the year.

The Children's Cancer Institute states that the overall survival rate for childhood cancer has now risen, thankfully, to more than 80 per cent thanks to medical research. This figure alone shows us why it's so important to spread awareness, to support children and families battling cancer, to fundraise and to continue to invest in medical research. (Time expired)