About CCRF

The creation of the Foundation was inspired by nine year old Jennifer Harper, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1977. When her father, Peter Harper, discovered that there was no research into children’s leukaemia being done in Western Australia, he set out, together with other parents of children with cancer, to raise funds for this purpose. Sadly Jennifer passed away in 1978.

Australia has one of the highest incidences of childhood cancer worldwide. One in 500 Australian children will develop a cancer before 15 years of age — that’s 600 Australian children diagnosed every year. Childhood cancer is the single greatest cause of death from disease in Australian children, with three children losing their lives to cancer every week. In Australia, childhood cancer is second only to breast cancer in terms of the number of years of life lost by the disease.

The quest to find cures for childhood cancer is one of medicine’s greatest success stories. Fifty years ago only twenty percent of children with cancer survived. Medical research alone has improved overall survival rates to 80 percent. With childhood cancer still the leading cause of death from disease in Australian children, there is more work to be done. There are still particular childhood cancers – such as brain tumours and neuroblastoma — with survival rates as low as 50 percent.

CCRF has a commitment to ensure this ground-breaking research continues so that the future generations will be the ones to live cancer free. The Foundation relies on the generous support of the community to continue its vital research, as we receive limited State or Federal funding.