Cancer Council Queensland has called on the State Government to overhaul the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme, following a scathing report by the Queensland Ombudsman. Cancer Council CEO, Ms Chris McMillan, said hundreds of cancer patients were being short-changed by the scheme. “Regional Queenslanders affected by cancer are constantly doing battle against this bureaucratic process and…

Cancer Council is urging Queensland schools to make sun safety a priority this winter to protect children from the harmful effects of UV radiation. Research shows around 64 per cent of Queensland children aged five to 17 years are sunburnt annually*, significantly increasing the risk of skin cancer later in life. Cancer Council Queensland CEO…

Cancer Council will today step-up its advocacy to better protect the estimated 200,000 Queensland children who live in a household with a current smoker. The action, to coincide with World No Tobacco Day, seeks to raise awareness of how chemicals from second-hand smoke can remain on surfaces around the home long after cigarettes are stubbed…

Cancer Council Queensland will today call on local government to step up and ban smoking in King George and ANZAC Squares – once and for all. The call follows the failure of a recent motion put to Brisbane City Council, prompted by a citizen petition. Council resolved to monitor current smoke free legislation before considering…

Escalating out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment will be assessed in a Queensland-first survey seeking to better understand the crippling financial burden faced by thousands of Queensland families every year. Cancer Council’s latest Everyday Health Survey “Health System Quality & Costs – How High is the Burden?” will survey patients and carers across the state to…

Queenslanders have stepped up the call for a smoke free state – and their voices have been widely heard. An overwhelming majority of submissions to a State Government review supported the creation of powers by which body corporates can ban smoking in units and apartments. The strength of the submissions encouraged me, in my newly…

Overweight and obese Queensland adults need to collectively lose 35.5 million kilos, an average of 15kg per person, to reach the healthy weight range – new data has found. The Chief Health Officer’s latest report revealed the average Queenslander gained one kilo every three to four years over the past decade – one in four…

Cancer Council Queensland has renewed calls for tougher regulation of smoking in multi-unit dwellings, following a move by the Obama administration to ban smoking in US public housing developments. The call supports new Cancer Council research that found 70 per cent of Queenslanders support a total ban on smoking in multi-unit dwellings, including balconies.

The toughest smoke free laws of any jurisdiction in the world will take effect in Queensland today, protecting the community from second-hand smoke and urging existing smokers to quit. Smoking is now banned at public transport waiting points, pedestrian malls, aged-care facilities, specified national parks and at or near children’s organised sporting events and skate…

Cancer Council Queensland has welcomed the finding of an interstate Parliamentary Committee that there are no legal impediments to implementing a generational phase-out of cigarettes. The finding by a Tasmanian Parliamentary Committee has effectively cleared the way for the state to push ahead with laws banning the sale of tobacco to young people born after…