About the program

The It’s Crunch Time™ campaign is an initiative of the Bowel Cancer Australia promoting participation by eligible Australians in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.

The objective of the campaign is to alert Australians to the major risk of bowel cancer and its prevention through early detection.

The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is being phased in over a number of years by the Australian Government.

Initially, screening was offered to Australians turning 55 or 65 years of age between May 2006 and June 2008, and those who were involved in the Pilot Program that ran from November 2002 to June 2004.

The second phase of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program commenced on 1 July 2008 and offers testing to people turning 50, 55 or 65 years of age between January 2008 and December 2010.

The next phase of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program commenced on 1 July 2011 and offers testing to people turning 50, 55 or 65 years of age between January 2011 and December 2014.

People eligible to participate in the Program will receive an invitation through the mail to complete a simple test called a Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) in the privacy of their home and mail it to a laboratory for analysis. The test looks for blood in bowel motions, which may be a sign of bowel cancer.

These screening tests have been shown in overseas clinical trials and in the Bowel Cancer Screening Pilot Program to be simple to use and highly effective.

Participants with a positive FOBT will be advised to discuss the result with their doctor, who will generally refer them for further investigations, usually a colonoscopy

Further information can be obtained by clicking here or phoning the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program Information Line on 1800 118 868.

The 2007 It's Crunch Time™ campaign was substantially funded by the
Commonwealth Government Department of Health & Ageing.