Approximately 5.5 million people have disability in Australia, representing 21% of the population. People with disability experience inequities throughout cancer care, including lower participation in screening, increased barriers to diagnosis and treatment, and higher cancer-related mortality. The Optimal Care Pathway (OCP) for People with Disability will present a national standard to guide best practice across the cancer continuum; however, its development presents unique complexities at the intersection of the health and disability sectors.
Cancer Council Australia, in partnership with the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and the Melbourne Disability Institute, is leading the development of the OCP for People with Disability. The process included a literature review, a working group, and targeted consultations with people with lived experience, advocates, healthcare professionals and service providers. This project is progressing against a backdrop of significant NDIS reform and multiple national commitments to equity across cancer and disability policy, while responsibility for essential supports remains divided across separately funded systems.
This presentation shares key learnings on opportunities and challenges in developing national guidance spanning the health and disability sectors. Key insights include healthcare professionals’ motivation to provide accessible care despite often not recognising their expertise or role in disability-inclusive practice, alongside limited routine identification and documentation of each person’s access, communication, positioning and support needs. Fragmentation between sectors can leave responsibility for essential supports, equipment and adjustments unclear, resulting in delayed, disrupted or potentially unsafe care.
The development of the OCP demonstrates that national guidance for people with disability and cancer must acknowledge the complex interplay between health and disability systems. It must embed reasonable adjustments as a planned, documented and reviewed component of care, based on individual need, not NDIS eligibility or ability to self-advocate. These learnings provide a foundation for developing nationally guidance that improves equity in cancer care.