Plenary Sessions
The session will begin with a Welcome to Country and a formal opening from our Congress Chair Sue Bartlett.
Cancer nurses are at the forefront of innovation, designing and leading models of care that improve access, quality, patient experience and continuity across the cancer journey. This plenary celebrates nurse-led practice across screening, treatment monitoring and supportive care, demonstrating how nursing leadership is reshaping what is possible within contemporary cancer services.
Through real-world examples, speakers will showcase advanced practice, independent decision-making, proactive risk management, and the impact of nurses leading care in increasingly complex environments. From specialist-led colposcopy services and proactive oral therapy monitoring to the SexFICC Project’s work in equipping the workforce to identify and respond to sexual function and intimacy concerns, this session highlights how nurses are not only responding to system pressures, but actively designing smarter, more compassionate models of care.
Attendees will gain insight into how nurse-led innovation improves access, supports earlier intervention, normalises often-missed care needs, and strengthens person-centred care across diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.
Shannon Philp was named HESTA Nurse of the Year in 2021 for her leadership in nursing education and patient-centred cancer care, and was awarded the Cancer Australia Jeannie Ferris Award in 2019 for improving outcomes for patients. As Australia’s first Nurse Practitioner in gynaecological oncology, she has led the design and implementation of innovative nurse-led models that improve access, streamline referral pathways and enhance outcomes for women with gynaecological cancers.
Her work spans clinical practice, research and postgraduate education, integrating evidence-based innovation with system redesign to elevate cancer nursing practice. With a focus on improving access, continuity and patient experience, she established a nurse practitioner-led colposcopy clinic and enhanced recovery and surveillance programs that demonstrate how advanced practice nurses can innovate, integrate services, educate the workforce and advocate for sustainable, patient-centred models of care.
Lisa Taylor is an experienced Cancer Nurse Practitioner at Peninsula Health since 2014 with more than 30 years of experience in oncology/hematology nursing, advanced clinical practice, nursing education, and service innovation. Since commencing her nursing career in 1992, Lisa has been committed to improving patient-centred cancer care through evidence-based practice, education, and leadership.
Lisa has led several key initiatives to improve access, continuity and outcomes for patients undergoing cancer treatment. She established the Symptom Urgent Review Clinic (SURC) in 2021 and the Nurse Practitioner-led Oral SACT Clinic in 2024, both designed to enhance patient support, streamline care, and improve treatment outcomes.
Lisa was named the recipient of the 2026 Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Award for Advanced Practice at Peninsula Health. Her work continues to demonstrate the important role advanced practice nurses play in service innovation and delivering sustainable models of care.
Mary Hayes (RN, MN) is a Research Fellow and Program Manager at the Cancer Care Research Unit, a consortium of Sydney Nursing School and the Sydney Local Health District. With over ten years of clinical experience as a cancer nurse, Mary brings a wealth of knowledge and recent expertise to her research, leveraging qualitative and co-design methodologies to emphasise the lived experience of individuals affected by cancer.
Mary’s work is primarily focused in the area of cancer supportive care. Her higher degree by research explored women’s experience of anal cancer and the associated challenges inherent with a rare diagnosis. This work has been recognised at national and international level and was recently awarded NHMRC funding to support a national, multi-site, phase II feasibility study.
