✨A Week of Leadership, Connection and Progress for Our Community
This month was an inspiring and deeply meaningful one for BCNA - the kind that reminds us why our work matters and how powerful it is when lived experience, clinical expertise and policy reform all move forward together.
💪Strengthening Early Detection in Brisbane - A National Push for Modernisation
We began this month in Brisbane at the BreastScreen Australia Conference, surrounded by leaders in research, screening and diagnostics who are working every day to improve early detection and outcomes for women.
It was a privilege to spend time alongside our CEO Kirsten Pilatti, Krysty Sullivan (one of our Consumer Representatives who presented at the conference) and members of our BCNA team on the exhibition floor. Together, we engaged with health professionals about the ongoing importance of early detection and the critical support BCNA provides to people diagnosed with breast cancer. These conversations were a powerful reminder of how lived experience and clinical expertise enrich each other when they come together with openness and respect.
Across the conference, we heard from experts and advocates dedicated to ensuring breast screening programs continue to evolve with emerging evidence. We’re especially grateful to those who champion the voices of people with lived experience - because it’s those voices that ground reform in the realities of diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.
As the conference concluded, Minister for Health Mark Butler outlined the Commonwealth’s next steps to modernise Australia’s breast screening program. These commitments include:
- A national policy framework for risk‑based screening
- A national strategy to increase participation rates
- A contemporary quality framework to guide program delivery
- Stronger collaboration between the Commonwealth, states and territories
These are important shifts, and BCNA welcomes them. We look forward to understanding the detail of the upcoming report and what it will mean for the women we support. What remains clear is that every woman, no matter where she lives, deserves access to a modern, evidence‑based screening program. We will continue advocating for transparency, full implementation of recommendations, and - above all - the inclusion of lived experience at every stage of reform.
🧑🤝🧑 Growing the Future of Consumer Leadership
Earlier this week, another important milestone event was taking place: one of our most cherished BCNA traditions - our Seat at the Table program.
This week, we welcomed 20 new Consumer Representatives, expanding our remarkable network from 44 to 64 advocates nationwide. This growth speaks to the strength of the program and BCNA’s commitment to ensuring lived experience informs everything we do across policy, advocacy, research, service improvement and consumer leadership.
Over two-and-a-half intensive days, our new representatives built on their online learning and developed new skills, knowledge and confidence. Throughout the training, participants heard from presenters who brought warmth, expertise and deep insight:
- Charlotte Tottman, psycho‑oncologist, explored the emotional impact of drawing on lived experience and shared practical strategies for recognising triggers and navigating challenging moments with care.
- Professor Rick Thompson guided the group through the relationship between evidence and lived experience, illustrating how both perspectives are essential when shaping research and policy.
- Jen Gilchrist discussed advancements in treatment and the increasingly important role consumer voices play in shaping advocacy priorities and research agendas.
The training also created space to explore BCNA’s current priorities, workshop key issues facing our community, and identify tangible ways to contribute. Equally important, it fostered connection, allowing new and long‑standing representatives to learn from each other, share wisdom, and build a strong sense of belonging.
We were fortunate to have representation from across the country, with lived experience spanning early breast cancer through to metastatic disease. It was particularly special to spend time with our founder and our new BCNA Chair, both of whom continue to inspire and anchor this work.
What makes the Seat at the Table program so impactful is that it doesn’t simply invite people to share their stories. It invests in them — providing the training, tools and support they need to contribute with clarity, confidence and purpose. It strengthens consumer leadership and ensures that lived experience is not an afterthought, but a powerful driver of change.
A heartfelt thank you goes to the dedicated team behind the program, including our L&D Consumer Representatives. The scale of what they coordinate, the standard they deliver and the care they pour into every aspect of the training is exceptional.
❤️A Shared Purpose Moving Us Forward
This month has made one thing abundantly clear:
When expertise, policy, and lived experience come together, we create real and meaningful progress.
Whether it was standing on the exhibition floor in Brisbane or sitting in a training room alongside new Consumer Representatives, we received a heartfelt reminder of what we can achieve when we collaborate with purpose, compassion and a commitment to equity.
It is work we are proud of, and work we remain deeply committed to.
