I would like to congratulate the member for Lilley for bringing forward this motion on ovarian cancer to the House, and I would like also to congratulate the previous speakers on this motion. I'm speaking on this motion because, like many in Australia and around the world, my family has been affected by ovarian cancer. Indeed, we lost a very close friend to ovarian cancer in 2014. As has already been mentioned, ovarian cancer is a common cancer in women and the five-year survival rate is only 46 per cent—one of the worst for the common cancers. In most cases, ovarian cancer is diagnosed quite late, at which stage treatment is very difficult. This month is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and in two days time it will be Teal Ribbon Day. Any donation made to Ovarian Cancer Australia will be matched by their sponsors. It's an incredibly worthy cause, and I encourage all members of parliament to consider donating.
The average age of women when they are diagnosed with ovarian cancer is 64. It's mainly diagnosed in women over the age of 50, but I myself have cared for a child aged 13 who had ovarian cancer. Thankfully, she has done very well. Ovarian cancer is described often as a silent cancer: the symptoms are vague and they often come on at the time of menopause or later. It is easy to ascribe the symptoms of ovarian cancer to menopause, so the diagnosis is often missed. As has already been mentioned, women are expected to be stoic, and often the symptoms are left for a long time before simple screening measures, such as a pelvic ultrasound, are undertaken, and the diagnosis is missed till late.
Every year about 1,600 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and approximately 1,000 women die from the disease. That is a really shocking statistic. There is no really early method of detection, and, as I've mentioned, many cases are diagnosed after the cancer has spread. Ovarian cancer in 2019 remained the sixth-most common cause of death from cancer amongst females. Unfortunately, there is no reliable screening test, but we do know that there are some risk factors—some of the BRCA genes are associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer, as are other things such as family history. There is no proven method of prevention, and that even includes removal of the ovaries.
The state of women's health in this nation is part of the issue. There has not been an overall, comprehensive look at women's health in Australia, and there's been a lack of investment in research for decades into aspects of women's health. I do congratulate the government on their $20 million package for research and management of ovarian cancer, but this is a drop in the ocean compared to what's required. There needs to be a comprehensive plan for the management of women's health, and in particular for ovarian cancer, going forward over the next 10 to 20 years.
In the last election Labor announced a $12 million funding increase to Ovarian Cancer Australia's national action plan, and that included creating a national ovarian cancer registry to track diagnosis and treatment and to help coordinate research. Clearly, much more needs to be done. The research pertaining to major breakthroughs in other areas of health is not seen in women's health, and that's something that wee need to foster: overall research into women's health and in particular ovarian cancer. We need major changes in awareness, and, whilst I do acknowledge the government's funding, much more needs to be done. Whilst we have seen some improvements in survival rates of breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer, the statistics are stark and there's been very little improvement in the last 20 years. We need also to Support Ovarian Cancer Australia's National Action Plan for Ovarian Cancer Research. This is a groundbreaking national action plan that needs to be funded properly and we need much more awareness of ovarian cancer and funding for ovarian cancer research.
