News

From July 2025, people may be eligible for lung cancer screening in the new National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) if they are:

• aged between 50-70 years, and
  • show no signs or symptoms suggesting they may have lung cancer (that is, they are asymptomatic), and
  • currently smoke or have quit smoking in the past 10 years, and
  • have a history of tobacco cigarette smoking of at least 30 pack-years.

Large international randomised trials have shown that a low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan can detect up to 70% of lung cancers at early stages and reduce lung cancer mortality by 20%.

In 2024, it is estimated that about 15,122 Australians were diagnosed with lung cancer and about 8,900 people died from the disease.

It is the responsibility of all healthcare providers in Australia to work towards providing a culturally safe NLCSP for all people who may benefit.

New program resources and education are now available to support you to get ready for the launch of the program.

What you can do to get ready for the NLCSP

The program will launch on 1 July 2025, which means you will start to receive enquiries soon.

Prepare for the program by completing the below steps.

• Complete the eLearning modules developed by Lung Foundation Australia, which offers Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.
• The radiology workforce should access the resources and education developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR)
• Register and integrate your practice with the National Cancer Screening Register, (NCSR) which will be essential for enroling the participant, viewing their screening status and updating their record. The program specific CT request form lives in your native software for you to complete. Find more details on the NCSR website
• Review and update your smoking history practice data to identify patients who could be eligible from 1 July 2025
• Establish electronic medical record (EMR)- based prompts to help identify potential participants as they become eligible
• Ensure your practice has undertaken formal cultural safety training, which may assist healthcare providers in fostering and providing culturally safe care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Register on the NACCHO website to be notified when resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are available
• Familiarise yourself with the program, including eligibility and screening process on the program website.For more information, download the Get your practice ready for the NLCSP resource.

Health workforce roles and responsibilities

The health workforce plays a critical role in promoting and supporting the NLCSP.

Requesting Practitioner

• Promotion and recruitment
• Conducting eligibility and suitability check and requesting a low-dose CT scan
• Enrol participant with the NCSR
• Providing smoking cessation support
• Communicating low-dose CT scan results
• Manage low-risk, low to moderate risk and moderate-risk nodules and actionable additional findings
• Manage referrals for repeat scans and investigations.

Healthcare providers without authorisation to report a low-dose CT scan

• Promote the program and recruit participants
• Assess eligibility and facilitate shared decision-making
• Enrol participant with the NCSR
• Offer smoking cessation support
• Support results communication.

Practice staff in primary care

• Promote the program and recruit participants
• Assist participant in making low-dose CT scan appointment
• Ensure NCSR is integrated with practice software.
Health support workers
• Promote the program and recruit participants
• Assist participant to make an appointment
• Provide smoking cessation support
• Support results communication.

Read more on the National Lung Cancer Screening Program health workforce roles and responsibilities.

Assessing eligibility and supporting informed choice

Participants may self-refer into the program or be identified via the health setting as being potentially eligible. Participants that self-refer into the program will still need to have an eligibility assessment by a healthcare provider and be provided with a request for a low-dose CT scan.

Australians who are eligible for the program must: 

• Be aged between 50-70 years, and
• show no signs or symptoms suggesting they may have lung cancer (that is, they are asymptomatic), and
• currently smoke or have quit smoking in the past 10 years, and
• have a history of tobacco cigarette smoking of at least 30 pack-years.
Calculating pack-years is an ‘imperfect science’, clinical judgement is required which may err on the side of inclusion. When calculating a patient’s smoking history, primary care providers will need to work with them to estimate the average number of cigarettes smoked per day and over how many years.
People with potential lung cancer symptoms should not be referred to the NLCSP. Instead, their symptoms should be investigated according to the Cancer Australia guide to investigating symptoms of lung cancer.

Informed consent

It is important to discuss the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening with your patients so they can make an informed decision to participate in lung cancer screening.

Each time a person has a low-dose CT scan, they are exposed to a very small amount of radiation. The low-dose CT scanners used for lung cancer screening use the smallest amount of radiation possible while still getting a high-quality image.

Primary care providers can use this Shared decision-making and informed choice for lung cancer screening guide for healthcare providers to support these conversations.