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Our History
The Council was formed in July 2024 when over 28 representatives from nearly every Victorian support group attended a Conference and voted to establish it.
Statistics were collected from Groups at that time, and it established that the 30 Victorian support groups represented over 1,400 Victorian members.
This followed a Conference that was held in November 2023 of Support Group representatives who voted to establish a Steering Committee to work up the concept of a representative body.
The Steering Committee consisted of Stephen Cox (Dandenong), Alan White (Bayside), Robert Peters (Essendon), Jim Richardson (Box Hill) and Peter Gebert (Eltham).
The Steering Committee also took on some initiatives from the first conference and one was to produce and roll out an awareness sticker. Supplies were sent to every support group in Victoria to use in its community.
The new Council created a Charter with its mission to advocate on behalf of all Victorian Prostate Cancer support groups in providing a caring and nurturing environment for men and their families whose lives have been affected by Prostate Cancer where they can receive compassion, information and education that will assist with their journey.
In addition, to promote awareness of Prostate Cancer to all Victorian men, whether they choose to be involved with a support group or not.
An election took place at the July 2024 Conference and the following people were elected to Executive positions of the Council serving 1-year terms.
- Chair – Peter Gebert
- Deputy Chair – Matt Dozzi
- Secretary – Dr Jaco Erasmus
- Treasurer – Jim Richardson
- Minute Secretary – Mikael Wagner
The Conference attendees also voted on a list of Initiatives for the Council Executive to work on delivering.
One of these was the roll out of the iconic Blue Man emblem which everyone supported as something that could be recognised as awareness of Prostate Cancer and that support groups exist.
To contact the Victorian Council of prostate Cancer Groups you can send an email to vicpcspprt.council@gmail.com.
Statistics
Key Statistics
- Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian men.
- 26,368 Australian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024
- 3,901 Australian men will die from prostate cancer 2024
- Around 72 Australian men are diagnosed each day with prostate cancer and around 11 Australian men will die each day from the disease
- 250,958 Australian men are alive today after a diagnosis of prostate cancer between 1982 and 2018
- Men diagnosed with prostate cancer have a 95.8% chance of surviving for five years compared to their counterparts in the general Australian population
- Between 1982 and 2018, five-year relative survival for prostate cancer improved from 58% to 95.8%
Detailed data
- Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cause of death from cancer in Australian men, behind lung cancer
- Prostate cancer causes an estimated 13% of all male deaths from cancer in Australia
- The estimated risk of a man being diagnosed with prostate cancer by age 85 is 1 in 5
- The estimated risk of a man dying from prostate cancer by his 85th birthday is 1 in 23
- The rate of men dying from prostate cancer in Australia has been gradually falling over the past 20 years
- men living in regional or rural areas of Australia have approximately 24% higher rate of dying from prostate cancer than their urban counterparts
- Indigenous men with prostate cancer have an estimated 86% chance of survival by 5 years after diagnosis, which is lower than the national average.
Support Groups do not give medical advice. Please ask your health Care Professional for advice regarding your personal circumstances.