Cervical cancer elimination is not a distant goal; it is happening now, in our clinics, our communities, and through the quiet leadership of our women.

In Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across the country, women are coming in, asking questions, making choices, and taking control of their own health. That is how change happens. Not through campaigns and slogans, but through genuine conversations, respect, and a system that listens first.

Australia has a national plan, and the World Health Organisation has set a global pathway: vaccinate, screen, treat. The structure is clear, but structure alone doesn't move people. What makes the difference is trust. It's a woman walking into a service where she is known, respected, and supported. It's being given a choice that fits her comfort, her culture, and her life. When care feels right, women take part, and that is exactly what we are seeing across our sector.

We now have the evidence to back it up. In our community-controlled clinics, up-to-date cervical screening among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has risen from 38.9 per cent in December 2021 to 49.4 per cent in December 2024. The number of women recorded with HPV screening up to date increased from 30,000 to 45,000 during these years - which means an extra 15,000 women have been screened, at a time when patient numbers have also grown.

These numbers are not statistics to me; they're aunties, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers who have made a choice to protect themselves and their families. For too long, the mainstream health system did not make that easy. The experience of cervical screening, clinical, rushed, often without privacy or cultural understanding, left too many of our women feeling unsafe and unseen.

When health care does not fit who we are, people protect themselves by staying away. That isn't a failure of individuals; it's a failure of design. And when we change the design, participation follows.

Self-collection has been a turning point. It's safe, reliable, and, most importantly, it gives women control. A woman can now do the test herself, privately and at her own pace, with trusted health workers nearby if she wants support. For many, that's the difference between avoiding screening and choosing to take part. It's practical empowerment, not symbolic, but real.

We are seeing this shift play out across the country. At Orange Aboriginal Medical Service on Wiradjuri Country, roughly three-quarters of eligible women now choose self-collection cervical screening. When one woman had an abnormal result, the follow-up was seamless, from testing to specialist care within three months. That is what a respectful system looks like.

At Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service on Dharawal Country, the team planned a community led women's health day. They went through their records, reached out personally to women who were eligible for screening, partnered with Family Planning NSW, and created a calm, welcoming space where women could choose how to screen. Seventeen women self-collected on the day, and screening coverage lifted from 52 per cent to 69 per cent within the reporting period.

And in our most remote regions, the story is the same.

Data from services such as Laynhapuy and Marthakal showed what is possible when community control, culture, and care come together, with screening rates in these ACCHOs surpassing WHO's targets to achieve elimination of cervical cancer. For decades, remote Aboriginal women were labelled "hard to reach."

The truth is simple: they were never hard to reach; the system just wasn't designed to reach them with respect.

Behind all of this progress is quiet, careful, professional work. Our services are strengthening their recall systems, aligning screening with broader preventive care, and ensuring follow-up happens quickly and compassionately. They are training staff, building links with hospitals, and ensuring no woman falls through the cracks.

This is not a one-off campaign; it's sustained health-system reform, built from the ground up, by our sector, for our people. We are vaccinating our young ones, screening our women, following up early, and doing it all in ways that honour culture and uphold dignity. That's how elimination will happen: one woman, one conversation, one community at a time.

But we cannot do it alone. Governments must continue to back what is working, with stable funding for women's health positions and navigators in ACCHOs, strong regional pathways to specialist care, and consistent investment in the systems that are already delivering results.

We do not need new layers of bureaucracy. We need stable support for the model that has proven itself.

To every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman aged 25 to 74, I say this: talk to your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service about cervical screening. You can choose to do the test yourself. It's simple, private, and you'll be supported every step of the way. And if you care for young ones, check their HPV vaccinations.

This is how we keep our families strong. We are proving, once again, that when health is designed with culture and respect at its centre, participation rises, early detection improves, and lives are protected. Cervical cancer will be eliminated, and when that happens, Australia will be able to say it followed the leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and the strength of our community-controlled sector and as a result we are leading the world. We are doing this with dignity, with resolve, and with pride, our way, together.

Pat Turner AM, CEO, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)