Beyond cancer. Beside you.
Cancer treatment can end. Its impact doesn’t always end with it.
More young people are surviving childhood and adolescent cancer than generations before them. That progress is something worth celebrating.
But finishing treatment can mark the beginning of another period of change.
Young people may be navigating ongoing health concerns, fatigue, anxiety or uncertainty, changes in identity and relationships, returning to education or employment, becoming more independent, or simply trying to work out where they fit after an experience that changed so much.
CCRF’s Adolescent and Young Adult Survivorship Program supports young people aged 15–25 as they adjust to life after cancer.
Through advocacy, navigation and guidance, we work alongside each young person to understand what matters to them, connect them with the right people and services, and help build confidence for what comes next.
Get support | Learn about the program
The space between treatment and what comes next
The transition from cancer treatment into survivorship isn’t the same for everyone.
For some young people, challenges are immediate. For others, questions emerge months or years later. Some know exactly what they need. Others simply know that something doesn’t feel quite right.
Our program exists to help young people navigate that in-between space.
It is practical, individual and led by what matters to the young person. Support can include navigating healthcare, finding appropriate health or mental health services, returning to study or work, building self-advocacy skills, managing health and wellbeing, accessing practical information, and thinking about goals for the future.
Our role is to provide advocacy, navigation and guidance. We are not a clinical or therapeutic service.
Find the information that’s right for you
I’m a young person
Finished cancer treatment and wondering what comes next? Find practical information about the support available, what to expect and how to reach out. You don’t need to know exactly what you need before you contact us.
Get support →
I’m supporting a young person
Cancer can change life for the people around a young person too. Learn more about survivorship, the challenges a young person may experience and how parents, carers, family members and friends can help them access support.
Information for families & friends →
I’m a health or service professional
Help a young person connect with support beyond treatment. Understand the scope of CCRF’s AYA Survivorship Program, who it supports, how we work alongside existing health and community services, and how to make a referral.
Professional information & referrals →
I want to support the program
Help young people build a life beyond cancer. Support from donors, businesses, trusts, foundations and community partners helps CCRF develop and deliver survivorship support shaped around the needs of young people.
Support AYA Survivorship →
Built with young people, not simply for them
Young people with lived experience of cancer are at the heart of shaping this program from the ground up.
Their feedback has helped shape how the program communicates, how referrals work and how support is delivered. Young people told us that support needs to feel safe and respectful, age-appropriate, honest and real.
Meet Noleen
Noleen Ryan
Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Advocate
With deep experience supporting young people and families through complex health, disability and community systems, Noleen brings a compassionate, practical and individual approach to survivorship support.
Noleen listens first. She works alongside young people to understand what matters to them, explore their options and connect them with the people, services and information that can help.
At the heart of her approach is a simple belief: every young person deserves to feel genuinely seen, heard and supported.
Meet Noleen →
Help make life beyond cancer better
This is where we finally speak to the funder/corporate/donor without corrupting the young-person messaging above.
Survival is an extraordinary outcome. But it shouldn’t be the end of the conversation.
As more children and adolescents survive cancer, understanding and responding to what happens after treatment is increasingly important.
CCRF remains firmly committed to funding childhood cancer research. Our AYA Survivorship Program extends that commitment to the lives young people are building beyond treatment.
By supporting the program, individuals, businesses, trusts and foundations can help young people access advocacy, navigation and guidance during a period of life that can otherwise feel uncertain and fragmented.
Support the program → | Partner with CCRF →
Referrals
Referrals can be made by: Young people and survivors, Parents and caregivers, Hospitals and healthcare professionals, Allied health providers, Schools, universities and educators, Community organisations and support services.
Referral Options
I’m a young person
seeking support
I’m a family member or friend of a
young person seeking support
Contact
AYA Cancer Survivorship Program Child Cancer Research Foundation
Follow-up support, referrals and enquiries are welcome.