Financial Cost of Cancer
Treatment and Care Policy
Executive summary
All Australians affected by cancer should be supported to access and receive optimal cancer care. Financial costs of cancer arise in many ways and can have a significant and negative impact on cancer outcomes. The goals of this policy are to improve access to optimal cancer care by decreasing the impact of both direct and indirect financial costs of cancer as well as addressing the changing financial circumstances experienced due to cancer.
The immediate priorities to improve understanding and people’s ability to manage the financial costs of cancer, include:
- Implement the standard for informed financial consent.
- Improve the experience of people affected by cancer who require income support payments.
- Improve financial support for people affected by cancer living in regional and remote areas.
- Increase access to financial counsellors for people affected by cancer.
We also identify future actions to be investigated in the medium-term:
- Improve waiting time transparency for cancer-related treatments to support people to make informed decisions.
- Implement funding models that provide value-based and quality care to people affected by cancer while reducing healthcare costs.
- Reduce out-of-pocket costs for people with ongoing and long-term treatment and management-related expenses.
- Ensure that people affected by cancer can access appropriate insurance without discrimination.
- Improve the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule safety net co-payment structure.
- Reform social security programs and income support for people affected by cancer.
Further work to address the increasing costs associated with providing healthcare, growing equity issues, and decline in the affordability of healthcare in Australia can only be addressed through long-term, system-level reform and we will continue to support work toward this goal.1, 2 3
Acknowledgements
Cancer Council would like to acknowledge the following people for contributing to this policy.
| Name | Organisation |
| Michelle Bass | Cancer Council NSW |
| Prof. Ray Chan | Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University SA |
| Tarishi Desai | McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer |
| Beth Doggett | Rare Cancers Australia |
| Vicki Durston | Breast Cancer Network Australia |
| David Goldsbury | The Daffodil Centre (Cancer Council NSW/University of Sydney) |
| Prof. Louisa Gordon | QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute |
| Fiona Guthrie | Financial Counselling Australia |
| Patricia Hancock | Breast Cancer Network Australia |
| Kim Hobbs | Oncology Social Work Australia & New Zealand |
| Lee Hunt | Cancer Voices |
| Carly Hyde | Cancer Council Queensland |
| Hayley Jones | McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer |
| Dr. Deme Karikios | Nepean Cancer Care Centre, NSW / University of Sydney, NSW |
| Elisabeth Kochman | Cancer Voices NSW |
| Dr. Daniel Lindsay | University of Queensland |
| Dr. Jordana McLoone | UNSW, Sydney |
| Drew Meehan | Cancer Council Australia |
| Tim Murphy | Leukaemia Foundation |
| Tri Nguyen | Cancer Council Australia |
| Dr. Pandora Patterson | Canteen |
| Amanda Piper | Cancer Council Victoria |
| Tim Rogers | Redkite |
| Plum Stone | Rare Cancers Australia |
| Dr. Carla Thamm | Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, SA/Metro South Hospital, and Health Service QLD |
| Megan Varlow | Cancer Council Australia |
| Kate Whittaker | Cancer Council Australia |
| Angela Wicks | Canteen |
Cancer Council extends its appreciation to those people and organisations who contributed to developing this policy, who for privacy or other reasons, have asked not to be identified.
External reviewers: Naveena Nekkalapudi and Prof. Michael Jefford.
Review period
This policy was published on 9 October 2023, with the most recent update made on 8 April 2024.
This policy will be updated as required as new information and evidence are available. A full review will be considered every 3 years, with this next review due to commence in October 2026.
If you have any questions about this policy, email: cancercontrolpolicy@cancer.org.au.
Definitions
Financial burden
A term used to describe the impact of financial issues a person may experience due to the costs of healthcare.
Financial toxicity
The negative patient-level impact of the costs associated with healthcare. These can include direct out-of-pocket and indirect costs that cause physical and psychological harm, affecting an individual's ability to make decisions and can lead to suboptimal outcomes.1 Financial toxicity combines the objective financial burden and subjective financial distress experienced as a result of a cancer diagnosis.2
People affected by cancer
People with cancer and the people with whom they have a relationship that are impacted, such as family, carers, friends, work colleagues and the broader community. With that in mind, the term, ‘people affected by cancer’ usually refers to a person with cancer and their immediate family, carers and friends.
1. Varlow M, Bass M, Chan RJ, Goldsbury D, Gordon L, Hobbs K, et al. Financial Toxicity in Cancer Care Clinical Oncology Society of Australia; 2022.
2. Zafar SY, Abernethy AP. Financial toxicity, Part I: a new name for a growing problem. Oncology (Williston Park). 2013;27(2):80-149.
References
- Paul C, Boyes A, Searles A, Carey M, Turon H. The impact of loss of income and medicine costs on the financial burden for cancer patients in Australia. The Journal of community and supportive oncology. 2016;14(7):307-13.
- Callander EJ. Out‐of‐pocket fees for health care in Australia: implications for equity. Medical Journal of Australia. 2023.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Health expenditure. Canberra: AIHW; 2023. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/health-welfare-expenditure/health-expenditure
An overview of the Australian cancer care funding system
Healthcare services in Australia are funded through a mix of public funding, private health insurance, non-government organisations and patient contributions.