Transforming Cancer Research and Treatment in SA

Lives will be improved and saved from cancer under a $77 million commitment from a re-elected Morrison Government to establish a Comprehensive Cancer Centre in South Australia with world-leading research, education and clinical care.

Through improvements in research and testing, the project is expected to see 2,000 cancer cases each year prevented, diagnosed early and treated more effectively in South Australia, as well as assisting patients from the Northern Territory.

SA’s Bragg Comprehensive Cancer Centre (BCCC) has been proposed by the Adelaide Health Innovation Partnership to be completed by 2025. It is modelled off the successful Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria which will be joined by NSW and Western Australia to create the collaborative National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

The Bragg Comprehensive Cancer Centre could change the lives of South Australians and patients around the country, bringing together leading researchers, leading doctors, nurses and carers, and world-class facilities.

The $77 million investment in the BCCC will build on our $68 million for the establishment of Australia’s first Proton Beam Therapy facility at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute - known as the Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy, our $80 million for the new South Australian immunoGENomics (SAiGEN) Cancer Institute, and $15 million for SA Pathology to strengthen the state’s capacity for genomic cancer diagnostics, all to make the state a key partner for Australian and international cancer research and treatment.

Under the Liberal Government we have increased health and hospital funding for South Australia from $1.0 billion in 2012-13 when Labor were in office to an estimated $1.7 billion in 2022-23, and our plan for a strong economy and a stronger future will ensure we can make investments in cutting edge treatment like the BCCC while boosting health funding for the state to $2.0 billion in 2025-26.

The BCCC will be co-located inside the Bragg Centre and will feature world-class treatment facilities and laboratories.

With around 11,500 cancer diagnoses were expected for South Australians in 2022, we know most South Australians are touched by the tragedy of cancer at some stage and so many will be helped by this transformation of cancer care, diagnosis and treatment.

For patients, this centre will help with early linking of the specialties required to develop a therapeutic plan, mapping out support services and giving upfront clinical research options.

Medical research is already a huge creator of skilled jobs in SA. Coupled with the federal Liberal Government support for Australia’s first ever proton beam unit in Adelaide, the Bragg Centre will help to attract even more medical research investment to our state.

Housed right on the site of the Bragg Centre, the BCCC will help our doctors, nurses and researchers to lead the world in breakthroughs to beat cancers.

According to the Cancer Institute NSW, access to a dedicated, expert and multidisciplinary cancer service through a comprehensive cancer centre has been found to lead to better health outcomes and a greater chance of survival for patients at 90 days following treatment.

This is a result of a concentration of expertise, access to specialist nurses and supportive care, and the fact that research is carried out by the same clinicians who treat their patients, eliminating the gap between the laboratory and the clinic altogether.