How Can Assist is Changing Cancer Care in Country NSW

Mark Middleton, CEO of Icon Group speaks at the workshop.

The Power of Local: How Can Assist is Changing Cancer Care in Country NSW

Last week in Dubbo, Cancer Australia brought together some of the country’s most experienced and committed leaders in cancer care for the Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network workshop at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. The room was filled with remarkable and passionate professionals – nurses, oncologists, researchers and community leaders, alongside national leaders including Professor Dorothy Keefe, CEO of Cancer Australia, and Mark Middleton, CEO of Icon Group. It was a room full of expertise, innovation and intent.

The focus of the workshop was clear: how to strengthen cancer care for people living in regional, rural and remote Australia.

The workforce reality behind the statistics

What emerged quickly was that geography is only part of the story. Beneath the statistics sits a more complex and persistent challenge – the cancer care workforce. Across regional, rural and remote communities, attracting and retaining medical specialists remains incredibly difficult. The result is not just fewer services, but fragmented and inconsistent care. Patients are often required to travel long distances for consultations, surgery and treatment. Care becomes fragmented across multiple locations. And the burden of navigating that system falls heavily on the patient and their family.At the same time, the very people who are most likely to identify when someone needs help, including GPs, nurses, pharmacists, welfare officers, social workers, oncologists, haematologists, radiologists and radiation oncologists, are often themselves part of a stretched and transient workforce. This has a ripple effect that is not always visible, but is deeply felt in our communities.

The hidden impact on referrals

For Can Assist, this challenge plays out in a very practical way. Our volunteers rely on referrals from local health professionals. These relationships are everything. But as many of you have experienced, just as those relationships begin to strengthen, as referral pathways start to become effective, people move on. A GP leaves town. A welfare officer changes roles. A nurse relocates. And suddenly, the connection is gone. The system resets. Meanwhile, patients continue to be diagnosed, often without knowing that support from Can Assist exists at the moments it matters most, particularly at the vital moments for country cancer patients. One of the most confronting insights shared at the workshop was that in some communities, a significant proportion of people who are referred for cancer care are simply not presenting at all. They are missing from the system – not because they don’t need care, but because the barriers of cost, distance and uncertainty are too great. It raises a critical question for all of us at Can Assist: Who are we not reaching?

Care closer to home is more than a convenience

Clinicians and leaders, including Professor Michael Boyer of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, were aligned on the realities of care closer to home as one of the most effective ways to improve outcomes for country cancer patients. This is not just about convenience. It is about outcomes. When patients can access treatment locally, or closer to home, they are more likely to stay engaged with care. The financial burden is reduced. Families remain connected. The experience becomes more manageable. Across the country, there are examples of this working well. Outreach clinics, telehealth, mobile services and stronger partnerships between metropolitan and regional providers. But these models depend on connection, networks that function well and on communication that breaks down the barriers to funds and potentially lifesaving cancer treatment.

Where Can Assist fits in

Sitting in that room, it was impossible not to recognise how central Can Assist is to this picture. While the medical system works to solve structural challenges, our volunteers are already responding to them every day. Across every community, our Can Assist leadership, members and volunteers are enabling access to treatment, relieving financial pressure when it matters most, and providing reassurance within a system that can feel complex and fragmented. At the same time, they remain a trusted and enduring part of the local community. Over 71 years, Can Assist has become the fabric of local communities. In places where healthcare roles change frequently, Can Assist is often the constant, the trusted presence that can always be relied upon and that consistency matters more than ever.

The opportunity ahead

A clear theme from Dubbo was that better outcomes for country patients will come from a more connected system that identifies people earlier, supports them locally, and moves seamlessly around their treatment needs. This is where Can Assist has a critical role to play. Across our 60 branches, there is an opportunity to strengthen the connections that matter most across health networks, so that every patient who needs support is identified and referred early. In a system where workforce turnover is constant, our strength is consistency. Being visible, embedded and easy to access ensures that no matter who is new to a community, Can Assist remains front of mind. Because earlier connection reduces stress, improves access to treatment, and delivers better outcomes for patients and families.

We Can Lead

There was real momentum in the room in Dubbo, a shared commitment to improving how cancer care is delivered across regional Australia. But the path forward will rely on more than strategy and systems. It will depend on strong local networks, trusted relationships, and organisations that are deeply connected to their communities. That is where Can Assist leads. Every day, volunteers are strengthening the system around the patient, ensuring support is practical, local and immediate. As we look ahead, the opportunity is to build on that foundation: to expand our reach, deepen our partnerships, and continue to ensure that what is raised locally delivers real impact locally. Closing the gap in cancer outcomes is not just a national ambition. It is something we build together, one patient at a time. And it has been happening at Can Assist Branches for more than 71 years.

Nici Andronicus

CEO Can Assist

26/03/2026