News

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.

We are delighted to announce that applications for the 2025 CNSA Research Grants are now open. This year, we have $30,000 in funding available for CNSA members across the country 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!

Are you passionate about advancing cancer nursing and looking to connect with a vibrant professional community? Now is the perfect time to join the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA)!

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.

Mark your calendars – Cancer Nurses Day is back, and we’re gearing up for another powerful celebration. Don't forget to order your Cancer Nurses Day Host Kit, filled with everything you need to mark the occasion in your workplace or community. Each kit includes balloons, napkins, and save-the-date postcards to help you spread the word and create a vibrant celebration.

We’re excited to host a series of Community of Practice (CoP) gatherings during the CNSA Annual Congress—your opportunity to connect, collaborate and grow alongside cancer nursing peers who share your interests. Join us and network with members across our Melanoma CoP, our Management / Nurse Executive CoP, or our Nurse Educator CoP. It's a fantastic time to meet people in real life that you generally connect with virtually.

We are proud to celebrate Ms Catherine Louise Johnson, who has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours for her significant service to oncology nursing and research. Cath’s remarkable career spans over three decades, marked by a deep commitment to advancing cancer care, research, and nursing leadership across Australia and internationally. Since 1997, she has served as a Clinical Research Nurse in the Medical Oncology Department at Calvary Mater Newcastle, following earlier roles as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Registered Nurse across leading cancer services in NSW. As a founding member of the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA), Cath played a key role in shaping the organisation from the ground up as a member of the founding streeing committee of the CNSA in Australia across 1998 and 1999.

CNSA recently responded to a consultation on the role of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in the National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP). Following the consultation, the Department of Health and Aged Care has decided NPs will be requesting practitioners under the program from 1 July 2025. In our submission, we strongly endorsed the integration of NPs but emphasised the need for consistency in scope, funding, training, governance, and infrastructure to enable effective, safe, and equitable implementation—particularly for rural and remote populations.

The nomination informs the National Health Workforce Dataset statistics used by the Commonwealth and states and territories in health system planning and policies. It is incredibly important that they have an accurate representation of the cancer nursing workforce in Australia.

Being a CNSA member is more than a subscription—it’s a sign of professionalism, commitment, and community. Employers and interview panels increasingly look for active involvement in professional associations like CNSA as a sign that you’re engaged, up to date, and serious about your career.

We know it’s tough out there—so we’ve made renewing your membership easier. At CNSA, we understand that times are challenging for many of our members. To help, we wanted to remind members that you do have the option to pay your membership quarterly—so you can continue to stay connected, supported, and informed, without the financial pressure of a single upfront payment. You can renew in four easy installments of $55, making it more manageable to maintain your professional membership throughout the year.

The 2025 Election for the CNSA Board of Directors is now open! There are seven candidates nominating for three vacant Board positions. This is a valuable opportunity for you, as a CNSA member, to shape the future of our organisation by voting for the individuals you believe will best represent and lead our cancer nursing community. All financial members will receive a secure email and SMS from TrueVote, an independent and verified voting platform conducting the election on our behalf. Please follow the instructions in that communication to cast your vote.

We are thrilled to celebrate two remarkable members of CNSA who were recognised at the prestigious 2025 HESTA Nursing & Midwifery Awards, held last night in Melbourne. Ty Simpson, CNSA member and Clinical Nurse Consultant for CAR T-cell therapy at The Alfred, was named HESTA Nurse of the Year, while fellow member Professor Marion Eckert was honoured as the Director of the Organisation of the Year, the Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre. These honours not only spotlight the individuals behind these achievements, but also shine a national spotlight on the excellence, innovation, and leadership within the cancer nursing profession.

The latest CNSA Nurse Educator Community of Practice meeting focused on the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in nursing education, highlighting both the promise and challenges of integrating digital tools into contemporary teaching practice.

We're proud to support the launch of Module 1 of the Radiation Oncology Nursing Course (RONC), developed by eviQ Education to provide foundational education for nurses working in radiation oncology. This important resource will strengthen clinical knowledge and skills essential to the safe and effective care of people undergoing radiation therapy.