BreastScreen Australia have outlined its intention to move the program into a new era of increased participation and risk-stratified screening. Building on its 2025 Policy and Funding Review, the program has laid out a strategy for change over the next 10 years. By 2036, BreastScreen Australia aspires to “lead the way in equitable, high-quality breast cancer screening – using technology and personalised risk-stratified approaches to save more lives through early detection.” It is a bold strategy, which if implemented, could see Australia as an international leader in adopting an agile public screening program capable of adapting to emerging technologies.

BreastScreen Australia is a program which has adapted incrementally to improvements in technology and knowledge since its inception in the early 1990s. Examples include transitioning from film to digital mammography (2006-2013), increasing the upper age limit for screening from 69 to 74 (2013), and most recently, recommending that all women be notified of their breast density at the time of screening (2025).

When we look at what is being outlined in the new 10-year strategy, this is a transformational change in how BreastScreen Australia will operate to improve breast health outcomes. Here are their objectives:

1. Ensure every eligible Australian woman can access safe, timely and culturally appropriate breast cancer screening.
2. Implement risk-stratified screening pathways to improve the early detection of breast cancer.
3. Ensure sustainability of the BreastScreen Australia Program by maintaining and strengthening its foundations including governance, funding and workforce.
4. Maintain high-quality services through developing and implementing a BreastScreen Australia Quality and Safety Framework, underpinned by evidence and clinical excellence.
5. Modernise BreastScreen Australia by embedding research within the program to drive the adoption of emerging technologies and digital infrastructure.
6. Strengthen partnerships across governments, health systems, services and communities to deliver consumer-focused care from screening and assessment through to treatment and management.

These are great objectives to have, but are they possible? Maybe. Notwithstanding the cost of implementation, which has been estimated at about $2 billion, success will depend on the different state and territory programs working together and developing meaningful partnerships with a wide set of stakeholders. The BreastScreen Australia program is implemented and funded through individual state and territory programs, and implementation of these objectives will require more governance and funding at the national level. Two-way engagement with the Australian community and with primary care providers such as General Practitioners and Nurse Practitioners will also be critical to success.

Embedding research more centrally into the BreastScreen Australia program will be a key driver of innovation. We know that health systems with strong involvement in research fosters an ecosystem that is more responsive to evidence-based change. BreastScreen Australia have recognised this and intend to embed research more comprehensively into the program. They aim to introduce a health learning system that enables the screening program to adapt over time as new evidence and feedback becomes available. Feasibility and implementation studies will be run within the program to test new technologies. Who decides which technology is trialled and which stakeholders have a seat at the table will be important considerations.

In publishing this ambitious strategy, BreastScreen Australia have signalled aspirations to build a more flexible and responsive screening program guided by international and local research evidence, which is very welcome. As BreastScreen Australia work to deliver on this 10-year plan, we will watch this space with interest.

Posted: 11/08/2026