Frequently asked questions about the lung cancer screening program

The National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) plays a vital role in Australia's public health system by:

• Maintaining digital records for participants in the bowel, cervical and lung cancer screening programs
• Sending invitations and reminders to eligible individuals to encourage timely screening
• Providing a safety net by prompting follow-up actions, ensuring participants stay on track with their screening journey

Unlike the bowel and cervical programs, the NLCSP is for people who meet specific age and smoking history criteria and do not have symptoms of lung cancer. The NLCSP aims to detect lung cancer early when treatment is more effective.

Talk to your healthcare provider, like a general practitioner (GP), nurse practitioner or a health worker at an Aboriginal Health Service to participate in the program. 

You can ‘opt-out’ of sharing your information with the NCSR and still claim the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for the low-dose CT scan. If you opt-out you will not be a participant of the NLCSP.

You can opt-out by:

• speaking to the healthcare provider who enrolled you in the program
• via the Participant Portal
• by submitting a webform or by contacting the NCSR on 1800 627 701

The NCSR will not receive or store any of your screening results and will not send you or your healthcare provider any correspondence (e.g. letters or text messages [SMS]). Your GP or healthcare provider will let you know your results and when you are next due for screening. You can choose to resume participation at any time. 

Yes. You can take part in the NLCSP and share your information with the NCSR, but can choose not to receive any communication from the NCSR (including invitations to screen and follow up reminders).

This can be done in the Participant Portal or by contacting the NCSR on 1800 627 701. You can change your NCSR communication preferences at any time.

If you are a participant of the NLCSP (meaning you are registered in the NCSR) the healthcare provider who enrolled you in the program will receive your screening reminders and updates. You can also nominate a different healthcare provider. If you do this, both providers will receive results and reminders about your lung cancer screening.

You can nominate a healthcare provider by using the Participant Portal, submitting a webform, or by calling us on 1800 627 701.

Integrating your eligible clinical software (Best Practice, Communicare or MedicalDirector) with the NCSR allows healthcare providers to access and submit comprehensive screening information for the bowel, cervical and lung cancer screening programs, directly from the practice management software you use daily.

Step-by-step guides for enabling the integration in Best Practice, Communicare and MedicalDirector are available on the NCSR website.

Once you’ve completed a low-dose CT scan request for an eligible patient, submit the Eligibility & Enrolment form via integrated clinical software or the Healthcare Provider Portal to initiate their screening journey with the NCSR.

Alternatively, manual forms are available on the NCSR website and can be faxed to 1800 154 854.

Yes. The requesting provider must complete the Eligibility & Enrolment form for the NLCSP, even if the participant has previously participated in bowel or cervical screening. Enrolment only needs to be completed once.  

Individuals can choose to opt-out of the NCSR and still be able to claim the two NLCSP-specific MBS items for the low-dose CT scan, however they will not be considered a participant of the program or receive communication from the NCSR.

If the individual opts out of participating in the NCSR, as per usual care, notifying patients of repeat or follow-up scans will remain the responsibility of the requesting practitioner. 

The most efficient way to submit radiology reports is via HL7 using an integrated Radiology Information System (RIS) or Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). The Radiology Implementation Guide (RIG) outlines how to complete this integration.

For support integrating your radiology software, book a call back from our technical support team or call the NCSR on 1800 627 701.

Radiologists will be required to send a copy of the radiology report, in line with the RANZCR structured report template, to the NCSR via integrated software (RIS or PACS) or the Healthcare Provider Portal.

Note: A transitional arrangement is also available until 31 December 2025 only, allowing radiology providers to submit radiology reports to the NCSR by fax 1800 154 854 or post: National Lung Cancer Screening Program, Reply Paid 94632 SUNSHINE VIC 3020.

Further information regarding the reporting requirements & minimum dataset is available here:  Quick start guide: Getting your radiology practice ready to report to the NCSR.

A six-month transition period (1 July to 31 December 2025) is in place to allow practices not yet integrated to send reports manually to the NCSR (by fax 1800 154 854 or post: National Lung Cancer Screening Program, Reply Paid 94632 SUNSHINE VIC 3020). Any radiology report sent manually will need to include participant demographic details, and all mandatory questions and answers required in the radiology dataset.

The report can also be submitted through the Healthcare Provider Portal. 

Further information regarding reporting requirements & minimum dataset is available here:  Quick start guide: Getting your radiology practice ready to report to the NCSR.

Yes. The NCSR will maintain previously submitted National Lung Cancer Screening Program reports, but will not store images. The details of the radiology provider where the previous images were taken will be available as part of the screening history report to help the radiologist obtain previous images more easily. Reports can be obtained via the Healthcare Provider Portal.

Radiology providers do not need to integrate with the NCSR, but it is recommended they do. Integrating allows reports to be submitted to the NCSR more efficiently within existing workflows, however those who have not integrated can still submit reports to the NCSR via the Healthcare Provider Portal.