A new statewide legal helpline for cancer survivors has been launched after a major research project found they face systemic discrimination in the workplace and when trying to access insurance and superannuation.
The service will enable callers to get free legal support through Cancer Council Victoria, which commissioned a study revealing the law is failing to protect people living with the disease.
The organisation expects to be inundated with pleas for help from cancer survivors struggling through a legal minefield after diagnosis. Returning to work after treatment is a key problem, with some employers offering fewer hours and poorer pay and conditions, or even trying to force them out of their jobs.
Inquiries to the service, launched a fortnight ago, have been received from a 52-year-old melanoma patient who returned to work from long-term sick leave but was pressured to take redundancy from his job of 20 years when a change in management left him without the flexible working hours promised by his former boss.
Another caller, a 45-year-old breast cancer survivor, was denied an insurance payout when the company argued it was a pre-existing condition due to a history of the disease in her family, even though she had received the all-clear from a mammogram conducted before the policy was taken out.
The service is means-tested and manned by cancer support nurses who connect callers to lawyers in their area, who then provide assistance free of charge.
Sue Merritt, manager of support services at Cancer Council Victoria, predicted they would take at least 600 calls within the first year.
”People recognise cancer is a life-changing condition, but they often don’t recognise it’s also a legal and financial minefield. On top of everything else they’re experiencing with their health and emotional wellbeing, they often don’t know if their insurance is going to fully cover them,” she said.
”They might not be able to pay their mortgage, they need to get access to superannuation, banks might keep calling them about repayments and they might need time off work. This service will give them access to a legal provider who can advocate on their behalf.”
The move comes out of a 2013 study, jointly funded by the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer, which also found that people in rural areas are far more likely to die from cancer, due to financial and travel barriers to treatment.
Cancer Council Victoria legal helpline: 13 11 20