Without limits
Someone is diagnosed with a rare or less common cancer in Australia every 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes, a daughter, a son, a mother or a father is told, “we don’t know the next steps for you”.
One summer day in 1991, our founder Kate Vines was the person to receive this devastating news. Kate went through a long journey fuelled with courage, determination and optimism, only to be met with blank stares when she was looking for support.
Kate and her husband, Richard, both founded Rare Cancers Australia in 2012 to ensure no one receiving a cancer diagnosis would feel isolated, left behind, or without any options.
Today, Rare Cancers Australia is trusted to deliver a service to the rare cancer community that no one else does, in a way no one else does. Support as unique and individual as you are.
Our programs support patients from every angle; clinical, emotional, financial and practical. We understand a person’s world has turned upside down. And we will do whatever it takes to navigate them through the chaos of rare cancer with empathy and compassion.
We equip our patients with courage, knowledge and motivation to advocate for themselves and demand to be heard. We stand side by side with them, to amplify the voices of the rare community and call out inequity in healthcare.
Better patient experiences and outcomes are our north star. And we won’t stop reaching for them until the story and the system changes.
Founders of Rare Cancers Australia, Kate and Richard Vines
