The Government is being urged to extend free screening for breast cancer to women up to the age of 74.
A woman has breast cancer screening. Photo: AFP
A petition signed by 10,000 people was presented at Parliament today.
Free screening is currently available to women between the ages of 45 and 69, but the Breast Cancer Foundation told a special breakfast at Parliament a woman's risk of breast cancer was higher in her 70s than her 50s.
It said of the more than 3000 women a year diagnosed with breast cancer, more than 700 were over 70.
The foundation said early detection was key, and many women could not afford to pay about $150 for private screening in their older years.
It said extending screening to 74, as Australia had done, would mean two extra free mammograms for women aged 70 to 74.