Lung cancer screening program

The National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) offers a free low-dose CT scan every two years to Australians at high risk of lung cancer because of their smoking history, so that cancers are found early, when they are small and most treatable. The program has run nationally since 1 July 2025, and our respiratory physicians assess and manage the findings it produces.

Who is eligible for lung cancer screening?

You can take part in the program if all of the following apply:

• you are aged 50 to 70;
• you have no signs or symptoms that suggest lung cancer;
• you have a history of at least 30 pack-years of cigarette smoking; and
• you still smoke, or you quit within the last 10 years.

You do not have to stop smoking to take part, although quitting remains the single most effective way to lower your risk.

What is a pack-year?

Pack-years measure how much a person has smoked over a lifetime. One pack-year is a packet of 20 cigarettes a day for one year. Multiply the number of packets you smoke (or smoked) each day by the number of years you have smoked: a packet a day for 30 years is 30 pack-years, two packets a day for 15 years is also 30 pack-years, and half a packet a day for 40 years is 20 pack-years. Your GP works this out with you when checking your eligibility.

Screening is for people without symptoms

Screening looks for cancer in people who feel well. If you have symptoms — a new or persistent cough, coughing up blood, breathlessness you cannot explain, chest or shoulder pain, unexplained weight loss or tiredness, or repeated chest infections — do not wait for a screening appointment. See your GP promptly: you need a diagnostic assessment rather than a screening scan, and your GP can refer you urgently. Patients with a lung nodule or mass on imaging, or who are coughing up blood, are reviewed within 48 hours through our Rapid Access Lung Nodule Clinic.

How the program works

1. Eligibility check. Talk to your GP (a nurse practitioner or a specialist can also do this). They confirm your age and smoking history, check that you have no symptoms, and enrol you with the National Cancer Screening Register.
2. Scan request. Your doctor gives you a request for a low-dose CT scan at a participating radiology practice. The scan takes a few minutes, needs no injection and uses a much lower radiation dose than a standard CT.
3. Results. A radiologist reports the scan against the program’s nodule management protocol. Your doctor receives the report, and the National Cancer Screening Register also tells you the result and when your next scan is due, by letter or text message.
4. Next steps. Most people simply return for their next screening scan in two years. If the scan shows a nodule that needs closer watching, you are asked to have a follow-up scan sooner (see below). Findings that need specialist review are referred to a respiratory physician.

What does screening cost?

The low-dose CT scan is bulk billed — there is no charge for the scan itself. A consultation to check your eligibility, or to review a result, is billed the way that doctor normally bills; our reception team can explain what applies to a specialist appointment with us before you book.

Understanding your result

Most screening scans are clear or show only tiny changes that are almost certainly harmless. The radiologist grades any lung nodule using the program’s nodule management protocol, and the grade decides when your next scan is due:

• Very low risk: routine screening again in 24 months.
• Low risk: a repeat scan in 12 months.
• Low to moderate risk: a repeat scan in 6 months.
• Moderate risk: a repeat scan in 3 months.
• High or very high risk: referral to a respiratory physician for assessment — usually further imaging such as a PET scan, and sometimes a biopsy by bronchoscopy or EBUS.

Being asked to have a closer look is not a diagnosis of cancer: most nodules found on screening turn out to be benign. The scan can also show other findings — such as emphysema or calcium in the heart’s arteries — which your doctor discusses with you.

Our role in lung cancer screening

Sleep and Lung Care’s respiratory physicians see patients at every stage of the screening pathway:

• Nodule assessment and surveillance for high-risk screening results, including PET scans, image-guided biopsy and bronchoscopy and EBUS, performed by our physicians in public and private hospitals.
• Rapid Access Lung Nodule Clinic — urgent review within 48 hours for a lung nodule, a lung mass or coughing up blood.
• Multidisciplinary care. Our physicians take part in the lung cancer multidisciplinary meetings at the Northern Hospital, the Austin Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, John Fawkner Private Hospital, Warringal Private Hospital and Northern Private Hospital, working with thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and pathologists.
• Lung health beyond the nodule. Screening often uncovers emphysema or COPD; we provide bulk billed lung function tests and ongoing care.
• Help to quit smoking at every visit. Quitline (13 7848) and your GP can also help.

GPs: refer through HealthLink (SALCCARE), fax or the online referral form, and please mark a referral for a suspicious nodule, a mass or coughing up blood as URGENT.

More information

• National Lung Cancer Screening Program — Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
• National Cancer Screening Register — results, reminders and your screening record
• Cancer Council Australia: lung cancer screening
• Lung Foundation Australia lung cancer screening helpline: 1800 654 301 (option 2)
• Quitline: 13 7848 (13 QUIT)