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Zero Childhood Cancer will receive a $112.6 million investment from the Australian Government – CCI

Children's Cancer Institute/LinkedIn

Mar 10, 2025, 16:02

Zero Childhood Cancer will receive a $112.6 million investment from the Australian Government – CCI

Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI) shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Zero Childhood Cancer (ZERO), a world-leading national precision medicine program for children and young people with cancer, will receive a $112.6 million investment from the Australian Government to extend and expand so that more children and young people can benefit from the latest in scientific and clinical understanding.

The Coalition have confirmed they will also support this funding.

Led by Children’s Cancer Institute and Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, the funding will ensure ZERO can continue to support this world first delivery of cutting-edge cancer care to all children with cancer.

When a child is enrolled in ZERO, no matter where they live in Australia, a sample of their cancer is sent to Children’s Cancer Institute and ZERO partner organisations, where scientists and clinicians analyse it at a genomic level so they can identify which treatment and drugs are most likely to be effective.

This announcement not only ensures ZERO will continue to be available to all children in Australia with cancer but extends its support to young people aged 19-25 with cancers that are typically seen in childhood, including young people whose childhood cancer has relapsed.

One child to benefit from ZERO is Carys Dawson, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at 6 years old. Despite initially responding well to treatment, Carys relapsed two years later.

ZERO analysis at the time of relapse showed that she actually had a rare sub-type of leukaemia. This information was used to change her treatment, and today, Carys is back at school, having just started year 6.

Laura Dawson, Carys’ mum, says that without the ZERO results, the outcome for Carys could have been very different.

‘Without ZERO, my daughter would have continued the pattern of ‘recovery’ and relapse with tragic results. Everyone was shocked by the genomic test result, and it saved her life.’

ZERO is changing the future for children with cancer the world over, and with ongoing support, it will continue to lead the world in precision medicine for children with cancer.

A huge thank you to the Dawson and O’Neill families for sharing your experiences with ZERO during today’s announcement.

Read the full announcement.”

Zero Childhood Cancer will receive a $112.6 million investment from the Australian Government - CCI