BreastScreen NSW
BreastScreen NSW is part of a national program which is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and state and territory government. BreastScreen NSW is the central data holder for the results of all mammograms that have taken place in NSW as part of this program.
You can find more information about the breast screening program in NSW.
Data coverage
BreastScreen NSW collects information on breast screening services within the program for women aged 40 years and over in NSW. Women aged 50 – 74 years are actively recruited to attend the service via an invitation when they turn 50, and a reminder letter every two years.
Data sources
The BreastScreen NSW Information System stores women’s breast screening history, which is used to deliver more accurate mammography reading results, and acts as a safety net to remind women when their next breast screen is due.
It also provides greater efficiency with the analysis of results, and assists us to further understand breast cancer and the best possible treatment methods.
Electoral Roll data and Medicare data are provided to the Cancer Institute NSW by the NSW Electoral Commission and the Australian Government Department of Human Services respectively, for the purposes of ensuring the accuracy of records on people who participate in (or who are eligible to participate in) cancer screening programs.
Data are provided to the Cancer Institute NSW by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the purpose of ensuring that deceased people are not contacted regarding cancer screening programs.
Data availability
There are several types of information that can be requested from BreastScreen NSW. This includes:
- BreastScreen NSW program activity or participation data
- BreastScreen NSW program cancer data
- BreastScreen NSW de-identified unit record data
- BreastScreen NSW de-identified mammography image data
Data are available for the following periods on request: 1991 - present.
To request data, see our cancer data and statistics page.
Data elements
The data available from BreastScreen NSW include information on:
- Clients
- Screening activity
- Assessments
- Lesions
- Histopathology
- Primary treatment
- Death
For further information, refer to the BreastScreen Australia Data Dictionary.
Data quality
Data quality processes include:
- checks of completeness of data items
- investigation of incomplete reporting
- de-duplication processes.
Data custodian
Manager, Business Intelligence and Information Systems, Cancer Screening and Prevention
Cancer Institute NSW
Locked Bag 2030, St Leonards NSW 1590
All questions relating to this dataset should be directed to:
Email: CINSW-ScreeningAndPreventionData@health.nsw.gov.au
Phone: 02 8374 5600
