Legislative Council, Thursday 20 June 2024

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - I am raising a matter on adjournment, mainly because we are going to a long break and there will be very little chance to get a prompt answer, so I am putting this to the Leader to take forward on behalf of a constituent.

I will not name the constituent; however it is a woman who has been diagnosed with a BRCA2 gene mutation, which gives a high risk for breast and other gynaecological cancers. She was advised by a counsellor to see a gynaecological oncologist and there are only two in the state, both in Hobart, to have surgery, as there is no test for ovarian cancer. It is a very insidious disease with a very poor outcome.

This diagnosis was over 12 months ago. She emailed the service Genetics Tasmania twice at the recommendation of her care providers, with no response. The third time, in February 2024, the email bounced back. She called the service after this and was told someone would call her back. This did not happen. She called again on 29 April and was told the same thing. As you can imagine, she is feeling very concerned and very frustrated.

I do not know if anyone has a family history of this particular genetic mutation. It is a scary thought.

My constituent understands that like many services in our state, this could be under staffing. She has been frustrated by the lack of response and the silence, and the unfulfilled commitments - as I am on her behalf. The Leader might like to take this forward for me. If this service is unable to meet her need, it should inform her of such and refer her to Victoria, and she should be provided with Patient Travel Assistance Scheme assistance to access that service. I am happy to engage directly with the minister or any of his senior staff or departmental staff to progress this matter. It is an urgent matter that should not have gone on this long, and I ask the Leader to bring that to the minister's attention.