Stolen Generations Survivor shares his liver cancer story to launch Liver Cancer Awareness Month and urge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get their liver checked early.

A Stolen Generations Survivor who discovered his liver cancer by chance will launch a new community campaign this Friday 2 October at Dardi Munwurro in Preston, Melbourne, marking the start of Liver Cancer Awareness Month.

Uncle Kerry thought the weight falling off him meant the gym was finally paying off. He had lost half his body weight in five months. A scan for something else found liver cancer. His story, now on film, carries one simple message for community: “Don’t feel embarrassed. Just give us a call.”

The video launches directly after the weekly smoking ceremony at Dardi Munwurro, an Aboriginal community organisation supporting men, women and families on their healing journeys. Community guidance shaped the whole campaign, including the decision to bring the health conversation to where people already gather rather than asking people to attend a health event.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 2.4 times as likely to be diagnosed with liver cancer as non-Indigenous Australians, and 2.4 times as likely to die from it. Fewer than one in ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people diagnosed with liver cancer survive five years. Late diagnosis is one of the main reasons.

New analysis released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in September, commissioned by The Healing Foundation, estimates around 23,300 Stolen Generations Survivors aged 50 and over are alive today. That is one in seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of that age. All are now in the years when a liver that has carried too much for too long can start to fail.

The campaign promotes a free, confidential phone line staffed by expert liver nurses on 1800 841 118. Community feedback led the Liver Foundation to avoid the word helpline, because asking for help can carry its own stigma. The invitation is simply: contact us.

Suggested quotes

Sally Castle, Chief Executive Officer, Liver Foundation:

“The liver does around five hundred jobs and complains about none of them. It is also the only organ in the body that can repair itself, if damage is found early enough. That is why we want people to get a liver check before symptoms appear. By the time symptoms arrive, it can be too late.”

Associate Profession, Dr Summer May Finlay, Yorta Yorta woman, public health practitioner

“Liver cancer does not reach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at higher rates by chance. When we talk about liver health, we are talking about removal, grief, shame and survival long before we are talking about anything on a blood test. This campaign starts from that truth, and from community wisdom about what actually helps.”

Leonie Williamson, Acting CEO, The Healing Foundation

“Stolen Generations survivors make up around one in ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and over. The evidence is clear that forced removal has left a lasting legacy of poor health and chronic conditions, and that many of these impacts continue to be felt by descendants. While these findings are confronting, they also remind us why standing up and speaking out about our health and wellbeing is so important.”

Uncle Kerry, Stolen Generations Survivor

“Don’t feel embarrassed. Just give us a call.”

Event details

• What: Launch of Uncle Kerry’s video for Liver Cancer Awareness Month
• When: Friday 2 October 2026, following the weekly smoking ceremony [time to be confirmed]
• Where: Dardi Munwurro, 558 High Street, Preston, Victoria
• Who: Uncle Kerry, Liver Foundation, The Healing Foundation, Dardi Munwurro community
• Media are welcome to attend. Interview and filming opportunities available (protocols for filming the smoking ceremony to be confirmed with Dardi Munwurro).

What community can do

• Watch and share Uncle Kerry’s video when it launches on 2 October
• Share the free, confidential phone line: 1800 841 118.
• Ask your doctor or local Aboriginal Medical Service about a liver check. You do not need symptoms to ask.

Media contact

Sally Castle

CEO Liver Foundation

sally@liver.org.au

Event contact: Marc Riviere, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Dardi Munwurro and Harp Kalsi-Smith harp@kindness.company.

Notes to editors

Liver Cancer Awareness Month runs through October. Campaign information for First Nations communities is available here.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare analysis of the health and wellbeing of Stolen Generations Survivors and descendants, commissioned by The Healing Foundation, was released in September 2026.

A feature article on Uncle Kerry’s story, co-authored by Harp Kalsi-Smith and Summer May Finlay, has been published by Croaky Health Media

Guidance for reporting: please use the terms Stolen Generations Survivor and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.