Breast Cancer Awareness Month

speeches, health, women, community groups,

October 21, 2015

This October I join thousands of Australians in paying my respects to the women we have lost and saluting the courageous women who have been diagnosed. Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the thousands of Pink Ribbon breakfasts happening across the country show that the community stands with you and we will continue to fight to find a cure.

One in eight Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. This year alone, that amounts to 15,600 women, or 42 women every day.

Women of all ages are affected. However, we know that two-thirds of cases of breast cancer occur in women between the ages of 40 and 69.

Seven women die from breast cancer each day.

While our best researchers and medical professionals dedicate their lives to finding a cure, we still lose too many people. The need for funding to continue critical research has never been greater.

This month is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—a time to acknowledge all those Australians affected by breast cancer and a time for us to remember those we have lost.

Each of us carries with us stories of the women who have been touched by breast cancer: sisters and friends, who found lumps and have struggled through diagnosis and treatment; daughters, who have lost breasts and who continue to fight; and mothers, who have been robbed of the opportunity to see their children grow up.

Each of us has encountered the heartbreak of breast cancer in some form or another. Each of us also knows survivors—courageous and strong women—who share their stories, serve their communities and help their friends.

Each October, women across Australia join together to host Pink Ribbon breakfasts. Since the Pink Ribbon campaign began in 1998, it has raised $20 million for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is a leading organisation that raises funds for research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer.

The breakfasts are an opportunity to acknowledge the impact of breast cancer and to remember and celebrate the lives of all those women who are affected. Approximately 1,400 breakfasts will be held in Australia this year, of which 511 will be held in New South Wales.

Breakfasts are held in private homes, parks, cafés and restaurants. They are hosted by locals whose lives have been touched by breast cancer in some way, or who wish to do their part to find a cure.

Jackie Coles is the acting chief executive officer of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. She has had this to say about the importance of Pink Ribbon breakfasts:

As NBCF is 100 per cent community funded, we and our researchers are extremely grateful for the very high numbers of people holding Pink Ribbon Breakfasts this October.

If you are holding or attending a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, know that you are making a very real difference to people's lives.

Your support is funding research into earlier detection, better treatment, and greater understanding of breast cancer, with the aim of seeing zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030. Thank you.

On Monday morning I was proud to host a Pink Ribbon breakfast at a fabulous little local cafe called Beejay's.

I was joined by more than 40 Summer Hill residents and by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Linda Burney. This event is held every year. The former member for Marrickville, the Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, hosted the event in the past with a regular group of local women who share their stories and how they are going with their treatment over coffee. This year we raised more than $500, just a small contribution towards the funds needed to find a cure. I thank the women who participated and the local businesses that donated raffle prizes.

Pink Ribbon breakfasts represent what I love about my community: people coming together to show support for the most vulnerable, reaching out to others at a difficult time to show they care.

I am honoured to acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I thank the National Breast Cancer Foundation for all it does to support women and families impacted by breast cancer.