Ms PAYNE (Canberra) (13:47): On Friday, I had the honour to attend the launch of the Australian Brain Cancer Foundation at the ANU. Led by founder and CEO Milena Skepev, the ABCF is a Canberra based charity for brain cancer, which has been established with the generous support of its founding partners and will change many lives. It will support researchers and clinicians to raise awareness and provide access to information and take a multidisciplinary approach to better understanding brain cancer.

Brain cancer is an incredibly cruel disease and takes the lives of more people under 40 than any other cancer. ANU head brain cancer researcher Professor Leonie Quinn's research focuses on the underlying factors of brain cancer through the generation of genetic models. She has brought together a fantastic team of the best and brightest in research and medicine in this area, who will work as part of this foundation. Professor Quinn has also inspired Zara, Milena's daughter, and her best friend, Mila, two young Canberrans, who now want to be scientists and doctors when they grow up. They have been making earrings and selling them and have raised over $30,000 to support this, which is already being put to use to support women researchers at the ANU to go to conferences and the like and pursue their incredibly important work. I know that the ABCF will achieve many great breakthroughs and changes for the lives of people suffering with brain cancer. (Time expired)