Investment equity, balanced with investment in innovative research and technology and critical cancer care infrastructure, is required for a future-focused, high performing cancer care system.

The complexity of cancer control and segmented nature of cancer care delivery creates disparities in cancer funding to different cancer types, geographic locations and priority population groups across the cancer continuum.

Equitable, priority driven and sustainable funding for cancer care is critical to ensuring improved outcomes for all Australians, regardless of cancer type, stage of care, location or identity and personal background. There is opportunity to explore and establish a coordinated funding approach that pools and redirects national and state investment into the areas of greatest need in cancer care for greater impact and to ensure equity is at the heart of all decisions related to cancer care in Australia.

This 5-year action seeks to explore and pilot new innovative investment approaches focused on redirection of cancer care funding to infrastructure, research, and areas of greatest emerging and/or unmet needs. Innovative approaches to pooling and redirecting funding may include:

• collaboration with the Commonwealth and jurisdictions to identify shared funding priorities
• partnerships across the public and private domains to boost funding for areas of unmet need
• reinvestment into local, tailored solutions that target populations with the greatest disparity in cancer outcomes
• integrating impact evaluation into funding to ensure maximised return on investments.

Implementation of this action may consider ongoing assessment of areas of greatest need and ongoing coordination with the cancer control sector, including industry, education and non-for-profit organisations to identify and address any unintended impacts to the cancer ecosystem as a result of new funding models.

Implementation considerations should complement those identified in Action 4.2.2 Ensure targeted and innovative research investment into areas of unmet and emerging need; and improve clinical trial design and equitable access. This action could also consider:

• consultation and collaboration with priority population communities and advocacy groups to identify emerging areas of unmet need and monitor the impact of investments on cancer outcomes, models of care and consumer experiences to ensure that funding evolves alongside community need
• incorporate targeted funding and grants for issues that are specifically related to particular priority population groups to promote equity, regardless of cancer type, for example, rare cancers in children and young people.