News

CNSA is delighted to welcome Dr Pammie Ellem RN MN PhD CDec as our new Education Manager. A respected leader in cancer nursing education, research and practice, Pammie brings a wealth of experience that will help us expand our continuing professional development (CPD) offerings and strengthen education pathways for cancer nurses across Australia.

Sometimes, mums really do know best — even if it takes us a while to admit! Though nursing wasn’t her first choice (despite her mum’s encouragement), Nicole is now an accomplished cancer nurse, researcher, and leader who wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Australian Government is proceeding with changes to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth items for nurse practitioners (NPs), aligning them with the eligible telehealth practitioner criteria used for other health professionals. These changes will take effect from 1 November 2026.

Have you submitted yours yet? EOIs for the Pre-Congress Symposiums (full-day and half-day) and Concurrent Sessions for the 28th CNSA Annual Congress are now open.

We’re thrilled to be heading back to Perth for the first time since 2015! Join us from 17 - 19 June as we bring the best of cancer nursing to the West Coast, while also learning from the incredible expertise of local clinicians and researchers.

Did you know that CNSA members can access 100+ recorded webinars anytime—covering survivorship, supportive care, toxicity management, treatment advances, and more? These recordings are perfect for lunch-and-learns, team catch-ups, or self-paced study.

Over the past 18 months, CNSA, in collaboration with the University of Wollongong, has delivered the Principles and Practices of Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) micro credential courses across the country. With a deliberate focus on improving equity of access to educational opportunities for cancer nurses, CNSA has focused on reaching nurses in regional and remote areas who often face barriers to attending hands-on professional development.

Good news for nurse practitioners and patients: PBAC has recommended expanded prescribing in cancer care. Read the President’s update for what this means, highlights from CanForum, and an invitation to join our Rare Cancers Community of Practice on 19 September to keep the advocacy conversation going.

We are pleased to share good news for nurse practitioners (NPs) and their patients. At its July 2025 meeting, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) recommended expanding the prescribing scope for NPs in oncology and haematology.

At our recent CNSA Breast Cancer Community of Practice meeting, members came together with Marisa Stevens and Jenny Gilchrist to unpack the latest insights from the Breast Cancer Trials Conference and explore their relevance for nursing practice.

This year, we invited cancer nurses around the country to share how they celebrated Cancer Nurses Day by posting a photo with the hashtag #CancerNursesDay for the chance to win a team morning or afternoon tea (valued up to $500). We were blown away by the creativity, spirit, and pride shown across all the entries.

Our CEO, Jemma Still, reflects on her 2025 Cancer Nurses Day experience including site visits, an open discussion with the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and hosting the live Q&A with nursing leaders. Cancer Nurses Day was an incredible success, and we hope you felt celebrated, seen, and valued – because you are.

Applications are open now, and we encourage all eligible members to consider applying — whether you’re looking to explore a novel idea, develop new models of care, or test an intervention that could be scaled nationally. This year, we have a combined $60,000 funding available for CNSA members to undertake research that advances cancer nursing practice and improves outcomes for people affected by cancer.

Happy Cancer Nurses Day from all of us at CNSA!

To celebrate Cancer Nurses Day, we're offering a special introductory membership offer. If you have a colleague who has been considering joining, we'd love you to let them know. Help us to grow our community, and help them take the next step in their career.

Read this Message from the President for important announcements on leadership changes, Cancer Nurses Day, our Workforce Survey and more!

Cancer Nurses Day is just around the corner, and we’re officially counting down! This special day is all about recognising and celebrating the incredible work of cancer nurses across Australia — and we can’t wait to see how you get involved. So far, we’ve distributed over 300 celebration kits to teams and individuals around the country, and the excitement is building. Whether you’re planning a small gathering or a full team event, there are plenty of ways to join the celebrations

We are thrilled to congratulate Melanie Rabbets as the recipient of the 2025 Slater and Gordon World Lung Cancer Conference Scholarship. Thanks to the generous support of our long-standing partners at Slater and Gordon, Melanie will travel to Barcelona, Spain, to attend the 2025 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WLCC) in September.

Are you passionate about advancing cancer nursing practice and education? CNSA is seeking dedicated members to join our Research Standing Committee and Education Standing Committee. This is your opportunity to contribute your expertise, influence strategic priorities, and collaborate with leaders shaping the future of cancer nursing in Australia.

If you love what we're doing at CNSA with our broader education offerings and future focused plan, you might be interested in working for us! We're currently recruiting for an Education Manager / Experienced Nurse Educator in a Work from Home capacity. You could be taking the lead in developing and delivering relevant, high-quality professional development opportunities for CNSA members, including webinars, podcasts, and online learning modules, and lead the validation and content mapping for our new Cancer Nursing Education Portal.

The new National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) is now available for eligible Australians aged 50 to 70 with a smoking history and no signs or symptoms of lung cancer.

CNSA was proud to attend a recent national Cancer Workforce Workshop, bringing together more than 80 representatives from nearly 40 organisations committed to shaping the future of Australia’s cancer workforce. Convened by Cancer Australia, the workshop provided a critical forum to discuss the current and future needs of the workforce in response to the growing demand for cancer care across the country.

As we reflect on the past year and look ahead to the future, we take this moment to express our sincere gratitude to several individuals whose terms in leadership roles with CNSA have recently come to a close. Their contributions have helped shape the organisation and strengthen cancer nursing across Australia.

On Friday 27 June, CNSA and Rare Cancers Australia (RCA) launched a new Community of Practice (CoP) focused on rare cancers. The session brought together a small group of cancer nurses from across Australia to connect, share insights, and start shaping the direction of this new group.

At the CNSA Annual General Meeting on 21 June, we farewelled three valued Board Directors and acknowledged their significant contributions to our organisation and the broader cancer nursing community. We are pleased to welcome two new Directors to the Board, along with one returning Director who has commenced a second term. Together, this refreshed Board will continue to guide CNSA’s strategic direction and strengthen our impact for cancer nurses across Australia.

The 2025 CNSA Annual Congress has officially wrapped—and what an extraordinary few days it was in Adelaide. Held in partnership with the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC), this year’s Congress brought together cancer nurses from across Australia and around the world to connect, learn, and lead.

This year at the CNSA Annual Congress, we proudly introduced the Emma Cohen Award for Best First-Time Presenter—a heartfelt tribute to an extraordinary nurse, leader, mentor, and friend. Renamed in memory of Emma Cohen, the award recognises outstanding first-time presenters at the CNSA Congress and celebrates the promise of the next generation of cancer nurses—something Emma passionately believed in.

The Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) is honoured to award Life Membership to Gabrielle Prest, recognising her enduring and extraordinary contribution to cancer nursing and to the CNSA community. Life Membership is one of the Society’s highest accolades, reserved for those whose work has significantly advanced cancer nursing practice and shaped the professional landscape in Australia.

Thanks to our partnership with MooGoo Skincare, five outstanding cancer nurses have been awarded a combined $35K in scholarship funding to support their post graduate study and professional development.