AAMRI applauds $375 million new investment in WA comprehensive cancer centre

The Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) applauds the Australian Government’s $375 million commitment towards a state-of-the art comprehensive cancer centre in Western Australia.

The centre is being developed by AAMRI member, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (Perkins).

AAMRI WA Chair and AAMRI immediate past president, Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM, said the facility has the potential to transform cancer research and treatment in WA.

“Currently Western Australians receive excellent cancer care, but their journey can be fragmented.

“There are also significant challenges for people in rural and remote communities to access the best treatment,” he said.

The proposed centre will address these issues by bringing together world-class multi-disciplinary cancer care, innovative research, and clinical trials in a purpose-built facility on the QEII Medical Centre campus.

“The Western Australian Comprehensive Cancer Centre will be a hub for improving cancer outcomes across the state and importantly will be of a standard that enables it to link in as part of a nationwide network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres, such as Peter MacCallum in Victoria and the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in NSW,” Professor Carapetis said.

“There is considerable evidence that national networks of comprehensive cancer centres in Europe and North America deliver measurable improvements in survival and quality of life for cancer patients.”

Importantly the centre will create jobs and a focus on collaboration in cancer research, helping to keep some of our best and brightest medical and research minds in the State as well as attracting some of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians.

Media contact: Aimee Sanderson, 0414 611 334 aimee.sanderson@aamri.org.au