3-14

3-14. Cancer

In 2017, around one in ten (9.7%) South Australians aged 18 years or more had ever been told by a doctor that they had cancer¹.
The rate varies between local health networks (LHNs) from 6.1%* in the South East LHN to 10.7% in the Southern Adelaide LHN¹.
The proportion of people who reported having or ever had cancer in metropolitan Adelaide (10.4%) is statistically significantly higher than Country SA (8.2%)¹.
No statistically significant underlying trend was identified in either the metropolitan Adelaide or Country SA time series¹.
Data prior to 2010 is not available.

3-14-1

* Relative Standard Error is between 25% and 50%. Please treat the estimate with caution.

Data prior to 2010 is not available.

Data source: SA Health 2018

In 2017, the proportion of the population aged 18 years and over that had ever been told by a doctor that they had cancer was roughly equivalent between males (9.9%) and females (9.8%)¹.
The rate increases with age¹.

3-14-2

Data source: SA Health 2018

There is no statistically significant correlation evident between the proportion of people aged 18 years and over who have ever been told by a doctor that they have cancer and the socio-economic status of the geographic area in which they live¹.

3-14-3

Data source: SA Health 2018

Data presented here is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2017-18 National Health Survey and refers to persons of all ages living with cancer (malignant neoplasms). It is not comparable to the information in 3-13-1 to 3-13-3 above.
The South Australian rate of 1.7% (age standardised) is roughly equivalent to the Australian average of 1.6% (age standardised) and ranks around the middle of the states and territories².

**Living with cancer (malignant neoplasms) (all ages), 2017–18 (age-standardised)**
State/Territory	%
Western Australia	1.4%
New South Wales	1.5%
Queensland	1.5%
South Australia	1.7%
Victoria	1.9%
Australian Capital Territory	2.0%
Northern Territory	2.1%
Tasmania	2.3%
Australia	1.6%

3-14-4

Data source: ABS 2018

Less than one in a hundred (0.9%) Aboriginal people in South Australia (all ages) are estimated to be living with cancer (malignant neoplasms)³.
This rate is below the estimate of 1.7% (age standardised) for all South Australians in 2017-18 (see 3-14-4 above)².
South Australia's rate for Aboriginal people was slightly below the national average for Aboriginal people of 1.1%³.

**Living with cancer (malignant neoplasms) - Aboriginal people (all ages), 2018–19 (crude rates)**
State/Territory	%
Australian Capital Territory	0.0%
Northern Territory	0.7%
Victoria	0.7%
South Australia	0.9%
New South Wales	1.1%
Queensland	1.1%
Tasmania	1.3%*
Western Australia	1.3%
Australia	1.1%

3-14-5

* Estimate has a high margin of error and should be used with caution

Data source: ABS 2019

Based on South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System customised extract 2018, Prevention and Population Health, SA Health, Adelaide, 16 August 2018.
Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2019), 'Table 3.3 Selected health characteristics, by State/Territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons, 2018–19, Proportion of persons,' National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2018-19, cat. no. 4715.0, 11 December 2019.