CANCER Council Victoria urges eligible 45–49-year-old Victorians to order a free bowel screening test kit and do it as soon as it comes in the mail
It has been one year since changes to the Australian Government’s National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) came into effect, which saw the program’s age criteria changed to allow Australians aged 45-49 to opt-in to receive a free bowel screening test kit in the mail.
Bowel cancer is Victoria’s second leading cause of cancer-related death among men and the third among women. Doing the bowel screening test every two years when you’re due can help find bowel cancer early and before symptoms appear.
While research from Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, funded by the Australian Government, shows high intentions from this cohort to participate in bowel screening, new data has revealed that less than five per cent of eligible Victorians in this age group have ordered the life-saving test in the first six months of it being available to them.
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows that within the first six months (July to December 2024) of the program being offered to 45-49 year-olds, 20,657 Victorians in this age group requested a bowel screening test kit.
This is a small fraction of the approximately 420,600 Victorians aged 45-49 who are now eligible for the life-saving test.
The test is free, quick, easy and done in the comfort of your own home. Bowel cancer can develop with no symptoms or family history. This is why doing regular screening from the age of 45 is so important, even if you feel well and live a healthy lifestyle.
This age change has allowed even more Victorians to access this life-saving test. We urge people aged 45 to 49 to order a test and do it as soon as it comes in the mail – it could save your life.
People aged 45-49 can request their first bowel screening kit through the National Cancer Screening Register, while people aged 50-74 receive the bowel screening kit in the mail every two years.
To learn more about bowel screening, head to cancervic.org.au/bowel. To order a bowel screening test kit, visit ncsr.gov.au/boweltest or call the National Cancer Screening Register on 1800 627 701.
Kate Broun, Cancer Council Victoria Head of Screening, Early Detection and Immunisation
