Mental Health and Cancer Care
Treatment and Care Policy
Executive summary
People affected by cancer may experience psychological distress at diagnosis, during treatment and well into survivorship. If left unaddressed, this can impact an individual’s capacity to engage in treatment decisions, tolerate or adhere to treatment, and may ultimately negatively impact health outcomes.1 Understanding and responding to psychological distress experienced by people affected by cancer must be a key component of care. This requires cancer care services to have processes in place to assess an individual for psychological distress and facilitate access to mental health support, ensuring interventions are appropriate to the individual to support optimal treatment outcomes and quality of life.
This policy focuses on the experience of psychological distress among people affected by cancer that, if unaddressed, can lead to worsening mental health, inequities in care and poorer outcomes. This policy is explicitly aimed at addressing the mental health needs of people diagnosed with cancer. It is beyond the scope of this policy to address the needs of people living with mental illness or psychosocial disability in accessing cancer prevention or screening.
The policy priorities identified here aim to improve the mental health care of people affected by cancer:
| Vision | Policy priority |
| All people affected by cancer have access to regular mental health assessments as a standard component of cancer care | Improve the integration of routine screening for psychological distress among people affected by cancer. |
| All people affected by cancer can access mental health support appropriate to their needs | Embed a stepped-care approach to mental health support in cancer care. Map the capacity and resourcing needs of the mental health workforce to support people affected by cancer. |
| Quality data to inform an understanding of the mental health of people affected by cancer | Improve data collection and reporting of the mental health of people across the cancer continuum. |
Acknowledgements
Cancer Council Australia would like to acknowledge the following people for their contribution to this policy on mental health and cancer care.
| Name | Organisation |
| Annette Beattie | Cancer Council NSW |
| Kim Hobbs | Oncology Social Work Australia & New Zealand |
| Dr. Laura Kirsten | Nepean Cancer and Wellness Centre |
| Katherine Lane | Cancer Council VIC |
| Dr. Clare Lynex | Cancer Council Australia |
| Melanie Marsh | Cancer Council WA |
| Amanda McAtamney | Cancer Council Australia |
| Dr. Jordana McLoone | University of New South Wales |
| Drew Meehan | Cancer Council Australia |
| Nicole Parkinson | Lung Foundation Australia |
| Amanda Piper | Cancer Council VIC |
| Jacqui de la Rue | Cancer Council QLD |
| Beth Scholes | Cancer Council VIC |
| Prof. Joanne Shaw | Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group |
| Megan Varlow | Cancer Council Australia |
| Kate Whittaker | Cancer Council Australia |
| Angela Wicks | Canteen |
| Fiona Wiseman | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre |
External reviewers
Hugo Toovey and Professor Brian Kelly.
This content has been approved by the CEO of Cancer Council Australia.
Policy Review period
This policy was published in September 2025
This policy will be updated as required as new information and evidence become available. A full review will be considered every 3 years, with this next review due to commence in September 2028.
Contact
If you have any questions about this policy, email: policy@cancer.org.au.
References
- Hyatt A, Chung H, Aston R, et al. Social Return on Investment Economic Evaluation of Supportive Care for Lung Cancer Patients in Acute Care Settings in Australia. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):1399.