Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

The National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 creates a new legislative framework for the establishment and ongoing management of cancer screening registers. This bill will establish the national cancer screening register, which will support the changes to the National Cervical Screening Program to be rolled out from 1 May 2017. The national register will also support the expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, which is critical in the fight against bowel cancer. A number of amendments to other legislation will be required once the National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 receives royal assent, to enable certain information to be provided to the register. These are described in the National Cancer Screening Register (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2016.

Not only will the national register provide an efficient approach for these two key national screening programs, it will futureproof Australia's approach to population-based screening, as it will have the ability to be expanded to other cancer screening programs in the future. The bill provides a principles-based legislative framework to support the government's policy objectives of supporting Australia's health system to meet current and future challenges. The bill will lay the foundation for future work to move towards a national integrated system that captures and reports on individuals' screening test results and on results of relevant follow-up procedures, up to and including the diagnosis with cancer or a precursor to cancer.

I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. I note that the opposition and the Nick Xenophon Team have each moved a second reading amendment—and I am referring to the one that you moved as a second reading amendment, Senator Xenophon. The government will not be supporting either of these amendments.

This bill will serve to benefit the health of Australians through more efficient cervical and bowel screening pathways, made possible by the establishment of a national register. It will facilitate the monitoring of the effectiveness, quality and safety of screening and diagnoses associated with bowel cancer and cervical cancer. The register will also assist general practitioners and healthcare providers in their clinical decision-making, contributing to cancer detection, treatment and prevention in Australia.