Motion
HON MATTHEW SWINBOURN (East Metropolitan) [11.33 am] — without notice: I move —
That this house notes that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the house —
(a) recognises the impact that childhood cancer has on the children of this state who are afflicted by cancer, their families and the broader community;
(b) commends the hard work, dedication and sacrifices of the doctors, nurses, health professionals, and supporting staff who do what they can every day to treat children afflicted by cancer; and
(c) acknowledges and recognises the continuing contribution of the many Western Australian research groups, such as the Telethon Kids Institute, to finding better treatments and cures to childhood cancers.
[Speeches and comments from various members]
HON ALISON XAMON (North Metropolitan) [12.12 pm]: I rise on behalf of the Greens and indicate our wholehearted support for this motion brought on by Hon Matthew Swinbourn as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. I thank the honourable member for his courage in sharing a very painful and personal journey for him and his family, particularly Mitchell.
Australia has one of the highest incidences of childhood cancer worldwide. As has already been said, and I will agree, we are not actually quite sure whether this is because in other countries, diagnosis is escaping people. That is based on the figures that are available now. The reality is that we are lucky in Australia to have a medical system that can diagnose and we do not know whether that is the case in other countries. We do know that childhood cancer is the single greatest cause of death from disease in Australian children, with around three children losing their lives to cancer each week. It is estimated that each year in Australia, on average, 750 children between the ages of zero and 14 are diagnosed with cancer. Fifty years ago, only two per cent of children with cancer survived, but now, I am pleased to say, survival rates are greater than 80 per cent. I note that four out of five children who survive childhood cancer, experience at least one physical or mental health issue, which are so-called late effects of treatment. The physical effects can include heart disease, osteoporosis and obesity and psychological effects such as anxiety and depression are reported by almost 50 per cent of survivors.
Leukaemias, as has been said already are the most common types of cancer diagnosed among Australian children, followed by tumours of the central nervous system—that is, mainly brain tumours—and then lymphomas. Almost half the number of children diagnosed with cancer in Australia were aged from zero to four years. Older diagnoses were the median age of five years—very young. Worryingly, even after adjusting for changes in the population, the incidence of all childhood cancers combined in Australia has increased significantly by a total of 35 per cent between 1983 and 2014. Australia is estimated to have the fifth highest incidence of countries in the G20, but it has the lowest childhood cancer mortality rates among the G20, which paints a positive picture of our ability to successfully treat cancer. Despite the promising advances being made by research, and that have been made in the past four decades, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month presents an opportunity for us to reflect on the still unacceptably high rates of cancer in children, and, as has already been well put in this place, the devastating and far-reaching impact that each and every diagnosis brings. A cancer diagnosis will always radically change the trajectory of the lives of those affected, no matter what the outcome. The treatments are brutal, as has been described. They are often administered over months and years. It is heartbreaking to consider that young children have to endure this suffering. Children with cancer often become part of a tight-knit community alongside other families affected by cancer. This can mean sharing in the joy of successful treatment; it can also mean that those children share in the profound grief of losing their friends to the same disease they are dealing with.
It goes without saying that we as a community need to do all we can to support those who are affected by childhood cancer. Many unsung heroes work tirelessly to support those affected by cancer, from very large organisations such as the Cancer Council WA, to small peer-led support groups or not-for-profits working in the area of specific cancers such as Sock it to Sarcoma. I would also like to acknowledge the medical staff who treat children with childhood cancers. The people who work in this field are, indeed, a special breed and the care they show makes an immeasurable difference to families and their loved ones at the most difficult of times.
I will talk a little about the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre. Investing in research is at the core of reducing the impacts of cancer generally and this is, of course, the case for childhood cancers. No discussion on research is complete without acknowledging the exemplary work of the Telethon Kids Institute in this space through the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre. That centre is bringing together specialist teams of researchers and oncologists required to defeat childhood cancers. The TKI researchers are working in close partnership with the clinicians at Perth Children’s Hospital to develop new and more effective treatments with less debilitating side effects. I was recently honoured to be one of the people invited to the opening of the new TKI research facilities at Perth Children’s Hospital and got to see the laboratories where this work is being undertaken. It is a fantastic investment and I note the commitment of both the federal and state governments to ensure we have a world-class, world-leading research centre into children’s health, generally, but specifically looking at the issue around children’s cancers.
Recently, researchers at the centre have been successful in joining two major research initiatives into a personalised medicine program for children with high-risk cancer and boosting survival rates in brain cancer patients. The centre is amongst world leaders in personalised medicine, which aims to personalise treatment based on each patient’s genetic information. Scientists believe that this approach could push survival rates up to 100 per cent, while at the same time reducing the toxic side effects of treatment. This research is incredibly exciting, because it has the potential to benefit all cancer sufferers, including those who have rare cancers. With brain cancer killing more Australian children than any other disease, it is also heartening to know that the Telethon Kids Institute is represented on a federal round table that sets the priorities for how money should be spent in order to improve survival rates. These are just two examples of many research projects being undertaken by the centre. We have come a long way in cancer treatment, but we still have a lot further to go. It is heartening to know that we live in one of the best places in the world when it comes to research and treatment. That should give us all hope, but we should always be mindful of those people who are living with the journey of childhood cancer—people like Mitchell and Hon Matthew Swinbourn’s family. This is an area that should affect all of us in terms of looking at the impact on people’s lives. I thank the honourable member for bringing on the motion.
[Speeches and comments from various members]
Motion lapsed, pursuant to standing orders.