National Bowel Cancer Screening Program turns 20 – participation rates languish

According to the latest AIHW National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) Monitoring Report 2026 , Program participation for eligible people aged 50-74 between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024 remains stagnate at 42% (2025: 41.7%).

Just under 6.4 million Australians aged 50-74 were invited to participate in the Program, yet 3.7 million (58%) people did not return their free bowel cancer screening test.

In 2024, 73,724 people received a positive screening result (5.8%), meaning blood was detected in the poo sample that is non-visible to the naked eye that required further investigation via colonoscopy.

However, only 14.7% (2023: 13.9%) were recorded as having received a colonoscopy within the recommended 30-day timeframe.

Participants waited between 132 days (WA) and 202 days (NT), depending on where they lived (2023: 129 days (WA) – 179 days (TAS/NT)).

Of the 236,421 eligible people aged 45-49 who requested a screening kit between 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2025, 56.2% participated, with 4.7% returning a positive screening result requiring further investigation.

Since commencing in August 2006, around 35 million invitations have been sent, 14.2 million people participated in the Program (41.1%), and 17,378 bowel cancers have been detected.

Mortality rates have also declined over time for people aged 50-74, with an estimated 23 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025 compared with 44 death per 100,000 in people in 2006.

Between 2000 and 2024, the incidence rate of early-onset bowel cancer increased from 7 to an estimated 12 cases per 100,000 people.

In 2024, around 13% of bowel cancer cases are estimated to be diagnosed in people under 50 years of age, an increase from 8% in 2000.

Australia is experiencing an age-related divergence with increasing bowel cancer incidence among younger people occurring alongside decreasing incidence among people aged 50-74 years.