During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) celebrated the ongoing impact of a vital initiative – The Beautiful Shawl Project.

A collaborative, Community-led initiative developed by BreastScreen Victoria and VACCHO, the Project, launched in 2018, aims to reduce barriers and provide culturally safe breast screening services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria.

From July 2024-June 2025, the Beautiful Shawl Project collaborated with 15 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and other Aboriginal-led services. During this period, a total of 307* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received a breast screen at participating clinics, with 31% of clients screening for the first time.

Every member of Community who screens with the Beautiful Shawl Project receives a cultural screening shawl, featuring artworks by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The Beautiful Shawls are designed to provide comfort and protection during screening and are offered as a gift to take home afterwards.

Here’s what Community who screened in 2024-2025 had to say about their breast screening experience with The Beautiful Shawl Project:

“Warm reception from our lovely health workers, very supportive and caring, culturally safe environment. And I get to keep my awesome shawl!”

“Having the BSV (BreastScreen van) out and about in Community is great for our women who struggle to get to appointments for themselves. It’s a great service for women, staff on the van are lovely and very professional in their duty of care.”

“Just beautiful, people made me feel so comfortable”.

“I had a lovely experience. The staff were amazing and welcoming. The shawl provided warmth and didn’t leave you feeling exposed while having the mammogram”.

The latest Beautiful Shawl collection features two stunning new artworks for Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative and Budja Budja Aboriginal Cooperative respectively. These shawls, as well as those from previous years, carry visual messages of resilience, strength, healing and the deep interconnectedness of health, Community, Country and Culture.

Each year, we commend the ACCOs and other Aboriginal-led services who work tirelessly to ensure that their local Communities have access to culturally safe breast screening. We also honour the staunch women who participate in breast screening, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.

For ACCOs interested in hosting a health promotion event to celebrate the impact that the Beautiful Shawl Project has had on Community and to share messages about other cancer screening programs, please contact screening@vaccho.org.au. VACCHO can provide resources and a communications toolkit to assist in the planning and promotion of your event.

Learn more about the Beautiful Shawl Project here.

Watch the Beautiful Shawl documentary here.

* BreastScreen Victoria operates on a two-year screening cycle. As a result, fluctuations in participation data, with peaks in one year and troughs in the next are expected and reflect the natural rhythm of the program. This pattern is anticipated to continue across financial years.