NEW Lung Cancer Screening Helpline and National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Learning Hub.

The new National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP), Lung Foundation Australia has launched a free and confidential Lung Cancer Screening Helpline. 

Funded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Lung Foundation Australia (LFA) has established a lung cancer screening helpline to support participation in the National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP). The helpline is an expansion of existing information and support services provided by LFA to assist people living with a lung disease and lung cancer. The helpline aims to provide expert guidance, information, and support throughout the NLCSP screening and assessment pathway.
Staffed by trained nurses, the helpline offers accessible and trusted support. Nurses can assist callers by:

  • Answering questions about eligibility, before the caller has visited a healthcare provider
  • Explaining each stage of the screening and assessment pathway
  • Addressing concerns and supporting informed consent and participation
  • Connecting callers with relevant resources and information to support discussions with health professionals
  • Referring callers to external organisations where additional support is required.


Helpline Rollout
Phase 1: Telephone Support

  • Live from 1 August 2025 Freecall: 1800 654 301 (option 2) Hours: Monday to Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm AEST (excluding public holidays) Outside these hours, callers will be connected with an external messaging service where they will speak to a person about their enquiry and a trained nurse from LFA will return the call as soon as possible.


Phase 2: Online Live Chat

  • Live in early 2026 Online live chat function, for people who prefer not to communicate via telephone. The live chat function can be tailored to the users language preference.
     

Additional support pathways
An added benefit to the LFA led helpline is the ability to streamline connections to additional support services. For example:

  • If an actionable additional finding of COPD is found, callers can be easily connected with the existing LFA specialist respiratory care nurse.
  • If lung cancer is detected, callers can be connected to a LFA lung cancer specialist nurse for telehealth or in-person support.
    Freecall 1800 654 301 lungfoundation.com.au Page 2 of 6


Further information
For more information about the National Lung Cancer Screening Program and Helpline, visit:

New: National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Learning Hub.

GPEx, in partnership with the Australian Government, has launched a free national education initiative to support healthcare providers in encouraging participation in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.

Healthcare providers are key to influencing patients to screen and the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Learning Hub offers the opportunity to learn about this life-saving program.

Resources include:

  • CPD accredited learning modules to support early bowel cancer detection.
  • Tools and downloads to support bowel cancer screening conversations, for example, decision aids, referral checklists, and audit tools to guide patient care and improve clinical outcomes.

With bowel cancer responsible for more than 5,000 deaths in Australia each year, we know finding it early saves lives. Healthcare providers play a crucial role in helping patients aged 45 to 74 to screen for bowel cancer.

For more information and to enrol, please visit National Bowel Cancer Screening Program | Learning Hub

For further information on how to use the National Cancer Screening Register to support your patients in the bowel, cervical and lung cancer screening programs refer to the Primary Care Onboarding Kit | National Cancer Screening Register

 

10 September 2025