‘Closing the loop’: The path to eliminating cervical cancer in Australia

By Deva Wismartia, Program Manager – Cervical Screening

A 35-year old woman living in Melbourne is due for her routine cervical screening. She has been eligible for 10 years but has never been screened. 

She knows screening exists but still doesn’t feel comfortable having a cervical screening test done. A speculum examination feels invasive, she doesn’t have any symptoms, and the thought of testing for cancer scares her. So, she puts off testing for another 5 years. 

This is the experience of many multicultural women around Australia. 

They might have heard of screening, but don’t understand why they need it if they feel healthy. They might be more comfortable speaking another language, or feel unsure about what will happen at an appointment. They might have cultural or gender preferences when receiving care, feel uncomfortable with a speculum examination, or have had difficult experiences with healthcare in the past. 

And if they are a temporary visa holder or international student without Medicare, accessing screening can feel even more difficult. 

Now imagine if that same woman hears about screening from someone she trusts. She learns that she can collect her own sample, asks questions in her own language and in a familiar setting, and receives help to navigate the next step.  

The difference between these two experiences is not only awareness, but that the health system has made it possible for her to close the loop between hearing about cervical screening and actually accessing it. 

Australia is on track to become one of the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.  

In fact, modelling suggests Australia may reach the World Health Organisation’s elimination threshold ahead of the 2035 goal set out in the National Strategy of the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Australia. Early adoption of HPV vaccination, the move from Pap smears to HPV-based screening, and sustained investment in prevention have all contributed to this progress.  

But a national average can hide a great deal. 

Up to 72% of cervical cancers in Australia are diagnosed in people who have never been screened or are overdue for routine screening. Achieving elimination therefore means reaching the people the people the system currently finds hardest to reach. 

For many women from multicultural communities, self-collection has helped change what that journey can look like. Since July 2022, eligible people have been able to collect their own cervical screening sample, removing the need for a speculum examination and giving people greater privacy and control. 

But self-collection can only create greater choice if people know about it and can access it. 

Between 2023 and 2025, the Collaborative delivered the Own It campaign as the community engagement arm of the National Cervical Screening Program’s Multicultural Stream, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. 

Own It focused on increasing awareness of self-collection among priority communities, including multicultural communities, and was reported to have increased awareness among under-screened audiences by 45 per cent. 

The campaign also showed us that awareness is only part of the challenge. 

The next phase of the Multicultural Stream, which the Collaborative is delivering from April 2026 to December 2027, has been shaped by these lessons. Across this phase, we’re working towards engaging more than 50,000 people from multicultural communities and creating over 400 screening opportunities nationally.  

The design has been shaped by what the first phase surfaced: 

Trusted messengers: Continuing to work with the community organisation, bicultural workers and women-only spaces, with resources co-designed with communities and reviewed for clinical accuracy by the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC). 

Connecting awareness to access: Pairing community engagement with navigation support, facilitated referrals, and screening opportunities where communities live, work and gather. 

A pathway for people without Medicare: Providing a limited number of subsidised HPV tests for people outside the Medicare system, so that ineligibility isn’t a dead end. 

Including families in the conversation: Where communities tell us it helps, we’re including partners and family members in conversations about screening, recognising that health decisions are often shaped by the people around us. 

Australia has made great progress towards cervical cancer elimination, but the next challenge is making sure that progress reaches everyone. 

That is the work of this phase, delivered with the support of the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, guided clinically by the ACPCC, and carried in practice by the community organisations, bicultural workers and health practitioners we work alongside. 

We welcome the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s continued investment in this work, and look forward to continuing to work in partnership to improve health equity for multicultural women.