While Australia has a lot to be proud of in relation to cancer outcomes and health care in general. From this position of pride however, it is important to look at those who, through inequalities in income, age, lifestyle and education, are less likely to have the same outcomes in cancer care as others. The sensitivity of health to the social environment is a growing body of knowledge and brings a new complexity to our understanding of health and wellbeing – especially in relation to discrepancies in cancer outcomes. This presentation will provide an overview to health discrepancies in the Australian cancer setting with some directions for improving service gaps and introduce the overall focus of this plenary.