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The Kids’ Cancer Project is proud to be an ongoing partner with the Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Mission – a collaborative initiative bringing together government and non-government partners with a shared vision to improve outcomes and experiences for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer.
The Mission builds on a nationally-developed Roadmap driven by Cancer Australia and shaped through broad sector collaboration – recognising that meaningful progress will come through a stronger alignment across research, care and the wider health systems.
A mission-based approach provides an opportunity to focus investment on shared priorities, shortening the pathway from discovery to real-world impact and better align public and non-government investment while allowing the sector to play to their respective strengths.
These three areas have been identified as enhanced supportive care, enabling better access to emerging technologies and therapies and ensuring targeted investment into research and clinical trials.
A coordinated, mission-style approach will complement and strengthen existing national efforts led by the Federal Government – including ZERO Childhood Cancer, the Australian Brain Cancer Mission and the Low Survival Cancers Mission – helping address unmet needs specific to children, adolescents and young adults with cancer.
By leveraging and strengthening existing capability, infrastructure and momentum across the sector, the Mission has the potential to further accelerate progress toward improved survival, quality of life and long-term outcomes for young people affected by cancer.
The Kids’ Cancer Project first proposed the idea of the Childhood Cancer Mission to the Albanese Labor Government ahead of the 2025 election. Although the Federal Government opted to pass up the opportunity at that stage, it was believed that a Mission that engages the wider Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult sector had merit.
That led to a sector-wide initiative throughout 2025 that bought together over 30 philanthropic organisations, service providers and people with lived experience to identify shared priorities and unmet need across the childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer sector.
Through consultation and working groups, there was strong alignment around a co-ordinated, patient-centred approach focused on addressing system gaps, strengthening collaboration and reducing duplication.
This work informed a collective sector presentation to Cancer Australia at the Childhood and Adolescent Young Adult Cancer Ministerial Roundtable held by Cancer Australia in June 2025 and through continued engagement with the sector through the Expert Reference Group has contributed to the development of the new Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Roadmap.
“Through our initiative and the collaboration – well before the Government had viewed the recommendations of the Roadmap itself – we had a lot of alignment across the sector in determining what should be prioritised and the benefits of collaboration,” says The Kids’ Cancer Project CEO Owen Finegan.
“We’re excited by the announcement around childhood and AYA cancer. We look forward to collaborating with the sector and making improvements.
“The Kids’ Cancer Project started over 30 years ago with a passion to make a different for childhood and AYA cancer patients, and this continued investment is an important first step into cancer care, research and access.”
The Kids’ Cancer Project welcomes today’s announcement of the first child and adult-centric Roadmap announced today by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, The Hon Mark Butler MP, having played a leading role in its establishment.
The national charity will continue to work with the sector in delivering next steps, including working with co funders to create a portfolio of investable opportunities that have demonstrated sector readiness to work with the Government and Cancer Australia on something tangible to engage with and potentially co-fund.
It is important to note that the Roadmap sets the strategic direction and the funding commitment of $50 million through the Childhood and Adolescent Young Adult Mission will function as an anchor for funding to activate research and translational priorities – fusing together the ingenuity of the childhood cancer sector with the power of Federal Government funding provides to result in outstanding outcomes.
“The Medical Research Future Fund was announced in 2015 and had an initial goal of reaching a $20 billion target by 2020. As of September last year, that number now sits at $24.83 billion, meaning there’s money to spend,” Finegan explains.
"The $50 million investment announcement from the Federal Government to prop up emerging technologies, supportive care and research is a start. The funding is there to be invested – it’s now time for the Australian Government to help us change the momentum.”
Help fund the next step in childhood cancer research across Australia.
