Niranjala Siriwardena: What the MASCC Global White Paper Taught Me
Niranjala Siriwardena, Cancer Survivor and Former Manager at PwC Australia, shared on LinkedIn:
“What the MASCC Global White Paper Taught Me And Why I’m Fighting for Change in Australia
Last week, I was invited to a national-level meeting with Professor Dorothy Keefe, CEO of Cancer Australia and her leadership team.
In that meeting, she looked at me and said:
‘I haven’t stopped thinking about your story.’
‘You’ve raised something that’s been invisible for too long.’
She then pointed me to a global report that changed everything for me:
The MASCC White Paper – ‘Work After Cancer: Global Challenges and Solutions.’
And what I found in those pages hit hard.
Key Findings That Can’t Be Ignored:
- Survivors across the world are falling through the cracks
- Return-to-work support is inconsistent, fragmented, or completely missing
- Most systems still rely on general health laws or broad anti-discrimination policies
- And critically:
‘Policy development’ was ranked the most urgent and useful solution by professionals globally
Not just nice words.
Not just empathy.
Policy. Structure. Protection. Accountability.
So what does this mean for Australia?
It means we’re not the exception. We may have strong clinical care and high survival rates but when it comes to returning to work, survivors are still met with:
- Preventable barriers
- Silence instead of support
- Laws that exist on paper but fail in practice
I want to thank Professor Dorothy Keefe and the leadership team at Cancer Australia for:
- Listening
- Believing lived experience matters
- Encouraging me to keep going
Because no one should have to choose between recovery and career.
Because being strong enough to survive cancer should never cost you your livelihood.
If we want to be a country that truly supports cancer survivors,
Then the path forward is clear:
Structured, national-level action is the most urgent and effective step Australia can take.”
Bogda Koczwara, Director, Australian Research Centre for Cancer Survivorship at UNSW, shared Niranjala Siriwardena’s post:
“Thank you for highlighting the findings of the MASCC White Paper Work after Cancer. Global Challenges and Solutions. There is much more that can be done in this area building on the excellent work lead by Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) and The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC). ”
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