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BCNA speaking for Australians affected by breast cancer
BCNA is the national organisation representing Australians affected by breast cancer.
BCNA has over 22,000 individual members and more than 180 member groups. Our members come from all over Australia and from all walks of life. Whilst they have different backgrounds and individual medical experiences - they have all shared the breast cancer journey.
Women's voices are at the heart of our work. We have a responsibility to ensure that these voices and stories are heard by policy makers, health providers and planners. We have a range of systems in place to gather and report information from our members to inform our program, policy and advocacy work. We also want to help individual women across the country to speak out for improvements in thier local area.
Individual contacts - on a day to day basis BCNA receives many calls and emails from our members. We are able to record their issues and note emerging concerns. These contacts may be sparked by women's concerns with their treatment or care, a direct response to media reports or to information included in our various publications.
State by State - for a quick survey of a particular issue we invite comment from our State Representatives (2 in each state and territory)
Consumer Representatives - our trained consumer representatives are placed on committees across the country. Whilst they take to these forums the informed views of women affected by breast cancer - they are also well placed to hear about local and regional issues. They pass these stories back to BCNA to further inform our work.
E - consultation - when we are seeking more substantial immediate feedback on a particular issue we circulate a request via email. Depending on how large a group we want to reach we might consult firstly with our consumer representatives. Beyond this group we can go to our member group liaison persons across the country. For a larger group we would also consider promoting an issue through our regular e-lists.
The Beacon Magazine is an important means for us to reach our members across the country. Sometimes we will use the Beacon to call for responses from members on a particular issue. This is a useful means of gathering information and gauging levels of concern about a particular issue from our broad membership.
Still Making a Difference Report - This report of our 2nd National Conference gathered information on a wide range of issues for women affected by breast cancer. The report and the 61 recommendations included within it still provides the basis for much of our advocacy work.
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