Earlier this week our McCabe Centre team presented at a VCCC Alliance webinar to spotlight the experiences of people affected by cancer and to advocate for carer rights to be better adopted in Australian and Victorian law and policy.
Cancer carers are of vital importance to their loved ones and to the broader community. Yet their experiences are often unheard, meaning their needs go unrecognised.
The webinar was an important opportunity to hear directly from cancer carer, Tracey Bilson, a member of Cancer Council Victoria’s Community Advisory Network who is passionate about improving the lives of other cancer carers; and featured the McCabe Centre’s Sarah McHutchison; and Cancer Council Victoria’s Amanda Piper, Head of Cancer Strategy (webinar chair), and Beth Scholes, Policy Manager.
The unfortunate reality is that one in two Victorians will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85, so it’s highly likely that many of us will either be a carer or need care at some point in our lives.
But the support for unpaid carers isn’t in line with their needs, the huge contribution they make to people’s lives, or the value they represent to our health systems. This is why cancer carers are a focus of our work and why we planned this webinar.
We know that the law has a vital role to play in addressing many of the challenges that people with cancer, their families and carers face.
Laws can have a directly positive impact on people’s experiences, for example by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of cancer or caring for a person affected by cancer. Laws can also create an environment that promotes and supports not only people affected by cancer but the entire household within which they live, such as through laws that guarantee income security and paid and unpaid leave.
This webinar highlighted the further work to be done in law and society to better recognise and support cancer carers such as Tracey. We’d like to thank Tracey for her bravery in joining the webinar and sharing her story. In addition to hearing directly from Tracey about how cancer has touched hers and her family’s life, the session looked at:
- Cancer Council Victoria’s policy work underway to address the impacts of cancer including for carers
- How the law can be used to make visible and respond to the needs and rights of cancer carers and to improve their lives
- Learnings from innovative laws in place elsewhere and in other caring contexts
- Carer supports available from Cancer Council Victoria
- How carers can get involved in the McCabe Centre and Cancer Council Victoria’s policy and advocacy work.
The VCCC recording is available here: https://vcccalliancelearn.org.au/caring-our-cancer-carers.
If you live in Australia and are seeking support as a carer of someone living with cancer, you can call Cancer Council’s free, confidential telephone information and support service on 13 11 20.
About the McCabe Centre and our speaker
The McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer is the only one of its kind in the world that uses legal expertise to improve the lives of people living with cancer and other non-communicable diseases and also the lives of those impacted by cancer, including families and carers.
Sarah McHutchison is the Legal Policy Advisor, Treatment & Supportive Care, McCabe Centre. Sarah’s work for the McCabe Centre focuses on the interplay between law and cancer care issues with a focus on improving access to cancer care and information, universal health coverage, and the human rights of people affected by cancer.
About the VCCC
The VCCC Alliance is a powerful partnership between 10 leading research, academic and clinical institutions working together to expedite and amplify leading-edge cancer research, knowledge and expertise to improve outcomes for people affected by cancer.
See more about the VCCC here.
And the McCabe Centre is the WHO Collaborating Centre of Law and Noncommunicable Disease (NCDs) and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Knowledge Hub on Legal Challenges. For more information, please contact info@mccabecentre.org