Colonoscopy Hub
The Commission is working with the health sector across Australia to improve care for people undergoing colonoscopy, to ensure the procedure is safe and of high quality, and only performed when appropriate.
Read our new Atlas Focus Report: Colonoscopy and updated Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard (2025), released on 21 September 2025.
Introduction
Colonoscopy is a vital tool to prevent and detect bowel cancer, with around 1 million colonoscopies performed in Australian hospitals and day procedure services each year.
To reduce bowel cancer risk, people should have bowel cancer screening tests when recommended, high-quality colonoscopies when required and follow-up at the right time.
The Commission is calling for health services and clinicians to do more to ensure that colonoscopy is used appropriately and repeated when recommended – to prevent some people receiving unnecessary colonoscopies, while others miss out.
What's new?
The Commission has published:
- Trend data on colonoscopy and repeat colonoscopy from the Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation series (Atlas) in a new interactive Atlas Focus Report: Colonoscopy
- A revised Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard (2025) with guidance on optimal patient care
Colonoscopy data report and standard
- Atlas Focus Report: Colonoscopy
This interactive national data report examines MBS-subsidised colonoscopy and repeat colonoscopy, including variation by socioeconomic disadvantage, remoteness and trends over time.
- Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard (2025)
The revised Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard describes the safe, appropriate and high-quality use of colonoscopy.
Highlights Report
Download the Highlights Report for an overview of the Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard and new trend data on repeat colonoscopy from the Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation (Atlas) Focus Report: Colonoscopy.
This outlines actions for policy makers, clinical colleges, health services and clinicians.
Background
Colonoscopy is commonly used to investigate possible bowel cancer in people with symptoms of bowel disease, a positive screening test, or with a known increased risk of bowel cancer.
The new Atlas Focus Report: Colonoscopy examines trends in colonoscopy and repeat colonoscopy before 3 years.
The report found an 8% decrease in the national rate of repeat colonoscopy before 3 years, between 2013–14 and 2023–24. Rates fell the most in remote areas (down 26%) and areas of most socioeconomic disadvantage (down 17%).
The variation in repeat colonoscopy before 3 years can indicate a need to improve care, as:
- high rates may reflect repeats that are not recommended by guidelines,
- low rates may reflect a lack of access, which may lead to under-diagnosis and under-treatment of bowel cancer.
The updated Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard (2025) continues to support appropriate use of colonoscopy. The standard was first released in 2018 in response to anticipated growing demand for colonoscopy with the planned expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and concerning data about colonoscopy rates in Australia.
