Financial help

Financial planning referral service

A couple meeting with a financial planner If you or someone in your family has cancer and you need financial advice, we can connect you with an AMP financial planner in your area at no cost*.

Loss of wages and other mounting costs such as treatment, childcare and accommodation leave many patients in need of immediate funds after a cancer diagnosis.

The AMP Financial Planner can help you with:

Centrelink payments
superannuation
insurance
debt management
budgeting
restructuring income and assets
estate planning
transition-to-retirement strategies.

This may be at their office, or at your hospital or home. If you speak a language other than English, we can arrange an interpreter for you.

*This service is free for people who qualify via a means test. If you don’t qualify for free help, paid assistance is available.

Financial assistance program

We can provide a small, one-off grant to people experiencing financial hardship following a cancer diagnosis, to cover everyday costs such as buying groceries or paying phone bills.

Workplace advice service

This free program can help you to:

Manage workplace issues before, during and after treatment, including disclosing a diagnosis, managing expectations, coping with side effects at work, taking leave and managing discrimination, bullying and harassment
Transition back into the workface after a period off work for treatment, including reviewing CVs, role-playing interviews and connecting with recruitment services.

Small business advice service

We provide patients and carers with access to free assistance to manage their small business after a cancer diagnosis. Qualified accountants can advise on tax issues, appointing a caretaker, business debts, sale of a business and assets, and other issues.

Transport costs

The Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (VPTAS) is run through the Department of Human Services in Geelong. You must travel more than 100km (each way) for medical treatment, or 500km a week for over 5 weeks to be eligible.

Regional offices:

Hume Region: PO Box 460, Wangaratta 3677, Ph. (03) 5722 0555
Gippsland Region: PO Box 1661, Traralgon 3844, Ph. (03) 5177 2500
Loddon/Mallee Region: PO Box 513, Bendigo 3550, Ph. (03) 5434 5555
Grampians Region: PO Box 712, Ballarat 3350, Ph. (03) 5333 6669
Barwon South/West Region: PO Box 760, Geelong 3220, Ph. (03) 5226 4540

We can also provide information about finding accommodation if you live a long way from your place of treatment.

How do I find out more?

Call our Cancer Helpline (13 11 20) for more information. Please note: Cancer Council staff and volunteers don't provide financial advice to callers.