The Australian Government will provide an additional $100 million over four years to support state and territory governments in the implementation of the National HPV Vaccination Program.
State and territory governments will use the funding to implement the school vaccination programs. Funding will also be used to establish a HPV Register and run an education campaign.
This brings the total Commonwealth Government commitment to more than $537 million over four years to vaccinate Australian girls and women aged 12 to 26 years.
The free HPV vaccine will be provided through school-based programs for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. The Government is also funding a two-year catch-up program for 13- to 18-year-old girls in schools and 18- to 26-year-old women to be delivered through GPs.
States and territories are on track for commencing the school program in April, with the 18- to 26-year-old program to commence from July.
Australia has the second-lowest incidence of cervical cancer and the lowest mortality rate from cervical cancer in the world, due to our National Cervical Screening Program.
Every year governments invest around $80 million in the National Cervical Screening Program. This investment has cut deaths from cervical cancer by over 50 per cent since 1985 and has halved the number of cases of cervical cancer.
The HPV vaccine should further lower the incidence of cervical cancer among Australian women.