New grants to improve cancer outcomes for NSW communities

Industry news

Issue 9, March 2012

Expressions of interest are now open for new grants aimed at encouraging an increased focus on improving cancer outcomes for disadvantaged population groups throughout NSW.

Cancer touches the lives of many people, but the reality is the burden of disease is not equally distributed among all of the population groups within our community. Aboriginal peoples, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have higher cancer incidence and mortality rates. These groups also have lower participation in prevention and screening programs; and as a result, they are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, present with cancers that have a poorer prognosis and often have poorer outcomes even after cancer is diagnosed.

The Cancer Institute NSW is committed to encouraging an increased focus on improving cancer outcomes for these population groups throughout the community, as well as promoting greater system-wide engagement with the primary and community care sector in NSW. In 2012, we're offering more than $600,000 in one-off funding to support innovation in these areas.

Expressions of interest

We are calling for expressions of interest for projects which will:

• focus on innovation and the extension of current projects with Aboriginal peoples (2x $25,000 and 3x $50,000 available)
• develop and deliver interventions to CALD communities in NSW that can help address the stigma of a diagnosis of cancer and so aid in earlier presentation with cancer (2x $100,000 grants available)
• improve communication between primary care and specialist cancer care services (4 x $50,000 grants available).

The grants will be provided to organisations to either extend a current activity or undertake a piece of work that will meet the objectives mentioned above.  Organisations are encouraged to consider the needs of rural communities in their submissions. The grants are one off and must be sustainable beyond the duration of the project period without requiring ongoing funding.

It is expected that the grants program will facilitate engagement and the development of partnerships between the cancer control sector and the Aboriginal, culturally and linguistically diverse populations and the primary and community care sector.

More information

For more information about the grants program and the EOI template, please contact the program co-ordinators below.