Children with cancer will have access to Australia’s first Comprehensive Children’s Cancer Centre and a new Emergency Department at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick.

The NSW and federal governments have announced a combined investment of $608 million to fund the cancer centre and expand the hospital by more than 50 per cent of its current size.   

Federal Health Minister Grey Hunt said the new centre would for the first time give children in Australia the same level of integrated cancer care experienced by adults. 

Mr Hunt said the centre would bring “the very latest in research from the laboratory bench to the bedside.”

“If your child is battling cancer, you want to know that the latest research is translating into effective treatment as fast as possible,” he added. 

About 770 Australian children aged under 15 were diagnosed with cancer each year between 2011 and 2015, according to data from The Australian Childhood Cancer Registry this January.  

NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said the new centre would mean “better outcomes for kids and for NSW it cements our position as a world leader in care for children with cancer”. 

The $608 million project includes $428 million from the state Liberals and Nationals government, $100 million from the federal coalition government, $30 million from the University of NSW, $25 million from the Children’s Hospital Foundation and $25 million from the Children’s Cancer Institute.

The new Emergency Department would be located on the ground level, while the cancer centre would be built on the level above.