Every week matters
New treatments for pancreatic cancer are finally showing promise. Our system needs to be ready.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about Every Week Matters. People in your community living with pancreatic cancer, and the families who love them, are asking for one practical change: a faster pathway for new medicines to reach them through the PBS.
Our ask:
Raise Recommendation 8 of the Health Technology Assessment Review with the Minister for Health, and support its implementation as a priority.
Contact our advocacy team More about Recommendation 8 Template letters
Key facts
- The askRaise Recommendation 8 of the Health Technology Assessment Review with the Minister for Health, and support its implementation as a priority.
- The delayNew medicines wait a median of 22 months after TGA approval to be listed on the PBS, and half wait longer.
- The impactOnly about 1 in 5 people with pancreatic cancer survive two years after diagnosis.
- The burdenPancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in Australia. 78 Australians die from it every week.
- The fixRecommendation 8 creates a faster, better-supported route onto the PBS for medicines that treat conditions with few options. The Government's own goal is 90% of promising medicines listed within six months.
- No shortcutsEvery safety and evidence check stays. The ask is about the process, not any particular medicine or its price.
How you can help
Every parliamentarian can help move Recommendation 8 from a report to reality.
- Raise Recommendation 8 with the Minister for Health, on behalf of the people in your electorate, state or territory affected by pancreatic cancer.
- Reply to constituents who write to you through this campaign, so they know where you stand.
- Meet people in your electorate, state or territory living with pancreatic cancer, and the people who care for them.
- Join us at Parliament House in March to meet people living with pancreatic cancer.
- Speak about pancreatic cancer and Recommendation 8 in Parliament. We're happy to provide background and data for a speech.
- Talk to our advocacy team about how we can support your work.
Why every week matters for people impacted by pancreatic cancer
78
Australians die from pancreatic cancer every week
4,825
Australians are diagnosed every year
3rd
leading cause of cancer death in Australia
1 in 5
survive two years after diagnosis
When you're living with pancreatic cancer, every week matters.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and the incidence has more than doubled in the past 20 years. It's one of the hardest cancers to diagnose and treat. Symptoms are often vague or easy to miss in the early stages, so most people are diagnosed after the cancer has spread, when treatment options are limited.
Only about 1 in 5 people diagnosed (22.4%) survive two years, the current median wait for new treatments to get PBS listing. For many people, the wait for a new medicine is longer than the time they have.
Other cancers show what's possible. Sustained investment in research and access has transformed survival for breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma. People with pancreatic cancer deserve the same progress.
Approval has a fast lane. Access doesn't…yet.
Getting a new medicine to Australian patients is a two-step process.
- Approval. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) assesses whether a medicine is safe, high quality and effective. For eligible medicines, the TGA already offers fast-track pathways, with a target of about seven months.
- Subsidy. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) assesses whether the medicine should be subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Without PBS listing, most people can't afford a new cancer medicine.
The delay is in step two. Once a medicine is approved by the TGA, it waits a median of 22 months, nearly two years, to be listed on the PBS, and half of new medicines wait longer.
Two steps to an affordable medicine
More than a year sooner
The proposed changes could help get promising medicines onto the PBS, and to the people who need them, more than a year sooner.
Step 1 times depend on whether a medicine is fast-tracked. "With the proposed changes" shows the HTA Review's goal of listing 90% of promising medicines on the PBS within six months. Source: Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review, Final Report, 2024.
The current system gives companies little support or incentive to bring promising medicines to Australia early, especially for conditions where few treatments exist. That's where Recommendation 8 comes in.
The solution: Recommendation 8
In 2024, the independent, government-commissioned Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review made 50 recommendations to improve how Australia assesses and funds new medicines.
Recommendation 8 is the one that would make the biggest difference for people with pancreatic cancer.
Recommendation 8
Improve the pathways and processes for listing therapies with high added therapeutic value in areas of unmet clinical need on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
In plain terms: a faster, better-supported route onto the PBS for promising treatments for conditions with few options, like pancreatic cancer.
What we're asking for
- Implement Recommendation 8 as a priority. A better-supported pathway, with a dedicated case manager, for medicines with high added therapeutic value in areas of unmet clinical need.
- Earlier expert advice. Earlier advice from the PBAC, so companies can address issues sooner and submit stronger applications.
- Meet the HTA Review's own goal. 90% of promising medicines listed on the PBS within six months of TGA approval.
- No shortcuts on safety. The same rigorous assessment, sooner. Every safety and evidence check stays.
We're asking for a better process, not for any particular medicine to be funded. This is about how long access takes, not the price of any medicine. Recommendation 8 would benefit anyone with a hard-to-treat condition, not only people with pancreatic cancer.
It's already on the table. Now it needs to be implemented as a priority.
Why now?
After decades of slow progress, pancreatic cancer treatment is reaching its first real turning point. Our system needs to be ready.
A treatment shown to nearly double survival has been approved in the USA. More than 80 companies are now developing new pancreatic cancer treatments. This isn't one drug getting lucky. It's a field-wide moment, and Australians shouldn't be the last to benefit.
Our ask is about the process, not any single medicine.
Every week matters
Behind every delay is a person who can't afford to wait. Every Week Matters is an ongoing grassroots campaign. Pankind is encouraging people and families impacted by pancreatic cancer to email their federal MP to share why time matters to them, and asking them to support the implementation of Recommendation 8.
Talk to us
We're happy to brief you or your office, provide data for a speech or question, or connect you with constituents affected by pancreatic cancer.
Email: advocacy@pankind.org.au
Spokespeople
- Michelle Stewart, CEO: the campaign, policy and government
- Amber Johns, Head of Research: research and clinical evidence
- Danielle Ozolins, Lived experience and advocacy consultant: lived experience of pancreatic cancer
Media enquiries: media@pankind.org.au
Template letters
To make it easy to raise Recommendation 8 with the Minister for Health, we've drafted letters you can adapt and send on your letterhead.
Government members
For Government MPs and senators. Welcomes the work under way and asks the Government to prioritise Recommendation 8.
Opposition and crossbench members
For Opposition and crossbench MPs and senators. Asks the Government to commit to Recommendation 8 and publish a timeline.
Need it tailored? Contact advocacy@pankind.org.au
Template letter: Government members
[Place on your letterhead]
[Date]
The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Health and Ageing
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
cc: [Optional: the Hon Rebecca White MP, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care]
Dear Minister
Faster access to new treatments where there is high unmet clinical need, including pancreatic cancer: Recommendation 8 of the HTA Review
I write on behalf of my constituent, [name], of [suburb], and others in [electorate] living with diseases that have few or no effective treatment options, including pancreatic cancer.
[Two or three sentences on your constituent’s experience: for example, a diagnosis, a treatment available overseas but not here, or a family member lost while waiting.] Their experience is not unusual, and it has stayed with me. [Name] has consented to their details being shared with you.
I welcome the Government’s work to make medicines faster and fairer to access, including the Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review and the work now under way to implement it.
Pancreatic cancer shows why this matters. It is estimated to be the third leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and only about one in seven people survive five years. Promising new treatments are emerging: in August 2026, a medicine that nearly doubled survival for people with advanced pancreatic cancer was approved in the United States. In Australia, the median time from a medicine’s registration to its listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is 22 months. Many people with pancreatic cancer do not have 22 months. For them, every week matters.
Recommendation 8 of the Review would create a better pathway onto the PBS for therapies that offer a major benefit in areas of high unmet clinical need, with dedicated case management and earlier advice from the PBAC. The Review’s goal is listing within around six months, so promising medicines can reach patients quickly once companies apply here.
I would be grateful if the Government would consider:
- Committing to implement Recommendation 8 in full, as a priority.
- Setting out a timeline, including when the new pathway will open to its first submissions.
- Including people with lived experience of these diseases, such as pancreatic cancer, in its design, alongside the consumer representatives already involved.
I would appreciate your advice on the Government’s plans for Recommendation 8. Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia, would be pleased to brief you or your office.
Yours sincerely
[Name]
[Member for (electorate) / Senator for (State)]
Template letter: Opposition and crossbench members
[Place on your letterhead]
[Date]
The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Health and Ageing
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
cc: [Optional: your party’s health spokesperson]
Dear Minister
Faster access to new treatments where there is high unmet clinical need, including pancreatic cancer: Recommendation 8 of the HTA Review
I write on behalf of my constituent, [name], of [suburb], and others in [electorate / State] living with diseases that have few or no effective treatment options, including pancreatic cancer. I ask the Government to commit to implementing Recommendation 8 of the Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review.
[Two or three sentences on your constituent’s experience: for example, a diagnosis, a treatment available overseas but not here, or a family member lost while waiting.] Their experience is not unusual, and it has stayed with me. [Name] has consented to their details being shared with you.
Pancreatic cancer shows why this matters. It is estimated to be the third leading cause of cancer death in Australia, and only about one in seven people survive five years. Promising new treatments are emerging: in August 2026, a medicine that nearly doubled survival for people with advanced pancreatic cancer was approved in the United States. In Australia, the median time from a medicine’s registration to its listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is 22 months. Many people with pancreatic cancer do not have 22 months. For them, every week matters.
Recommendation 8 calls for a better pathway onto the PBS for therapies that offer a major benefit in areas of high unmet clinical need, with dedicated case management and earlier advice from the PBAC. The Review’s goal is listing within around six months, so promising medicines can reach patients quickly once companies apply here. The Review’s final report was released in September 2024, yet there is still no commitment or timeline to implement this recommendation.
I ask the Government to:
- Commit to implementing Recommendation 8 in full.
- Publish a timeline, including when the new pathway will open to its first submissions.
- Ensure people living with these diseases, including pancreatic cancer, help design it.
I would appreciate your response and an update on the Government’s plans. Pankind, Pancreatic Cancer Australia, would be pleased to brief you or your office.
Yours sincerely
[Name]
[Member for (electorate) / Senator for (State)]
About Pankind
Pankind is exclusively dedicated to improving outcomes for everyone affected by pancreatic cancer. By funding life-changing research, providing support and advocating for better care and access to treatments, we're working to triple survival rates by 2030.
References
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia. Canberra: AIHW. (Survival and mortality figures.)
- Department of Health and Aged Care (2024). Health Technology Assessment Policy and Methods Review: Final Report. Canberra: Australian Government.
- Therapeutic Goods Administration. Priority review pathway: prescription medicines. Canberra: Australian Government.
- US Food and Drug Administration (2026). Approval of daraxonrasib for advanced pancreatic cancer, 26 August 2026.