News

SitRep 38/2025

November 11, 2025

PRESUMPTIVE CANCER BILL ANNOUNCEMENT

A bill announced by the Minns Government today will see enhanced cancer coverage for FBEU members, lifting the number of cancers covered by NSW presumptive cancer legislation from 12 to 22, understood to be the largest number of firefighter cancers covered under presumptive legislation across Australia.

The announcement comes on the back of sustained campaigning by FBEU members who have worked tirelessly over several years, and across the entire political spectrum, to achieve these enhanced cancer protections.

As FBEU members know, presumptive cancer legislation is underpinned by a scientific basis concerning the occupational exposures. According to the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, our profession is ‘cancer-causing’.

 This bill seeks to acknowledge these circumstances and streamline the workers compensation process for firefighters diagnosed with occupational cancer, ensuring quicker access to medical care and support.

If successful, the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment (Firefighters) Bill 2025 will add pancreatic, thyroid, cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulval, penile, lung, and skin cancer to the schedule of cancers covered by existing NSW presumptive legislation.

The importance of this bill, both for firefighters and their families, cannot be understated.

FBEU Officials will continue to collaborate with the NSW Government on next steps, including concerning provisions for retrospective claims.

In Unity,

Leighton Drury
State Secretary

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