New Zealand to Lower Bowel Screening Age to 58, Saving Lives and Preventing Cancer

From Monday, the starting age for free bowel screening will be lowered from 60 to 58 in Northland, Auckland, and the South Island, with the rest of the North Island to follow in March 2026, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

Earlier this year, I confirmed the Government’s commitment to lowering the bowel screening age to match Australia, so that fewer New Zealanders die from bowel cancer, Mr Brown says.

The first step is lowering the eligibility age from 60 to 58. This means thousands more people will now have access to lifesaving testing, giving them the best chance of having bowel cancer detected early, when it can often be successfully treated.

Lowering the starting age to 58 will see 122,000 people become eligible for free screening in the first year alone. Over the next 25 years, this change is expected to prevent 771 bowel cancers and save 566 lives.

People in Northland, Auckland, and the South Island will be eligible for the lower starting age from Monday, with those in the central and lower North Island from March 2026. All newly eligible people nationwide will be invited for free screening by March 2027.

This is the first significant step towards aligning New Zealand’s screening age with Australia. Our goal is to bring the age down even further, and building colonoscopy capacity is key to achieving that.

The Government is also introducing a new nationwide pathway called the FIT for Symptomatic test. This is a simple, non-invasive home test that uses a stool sample to check for traces of blood – an early warning sign of bowel cancer. It will allow anyone of any age with bowel cancer symptoms referred to a specialist to quickly assess their risk without needing to wait for a colonoscopy.

The FIT for Symptomatic pathway has already been launched in Waikato and will be introduced in Counties Manukau, Waitematā, Hawke’s Bay over the next two months, ahead of a nationwide roll out next year.

This will free up specialist capacity by prioritising colonoscopies for those at highest risk and reducing unnecessary referrals, leading to shorter wait times, faster diagnoses, and more resources to expand screening.

The FIT for Symptomatic pathway is expected to reduce colonoscopy referrals by 30 to 60 per cent – a significant increase in capacity that will support both symptomatic patients and the extended screening programme.

To further increase capacity, the Government has also recently announced a diagnostic uplift package that will deliver 7100 extra colonoscopies through to July 2026, helping to meet rising demand and ensure timely treatment.

In addition, we are investing $19 million in initiatives to lift screening rates among populations with low participation rates. This includes targeted promotional and engagement campaigns, new online resources to support conversations about screening, and making it easier to return test kits through community laboratories.

Mr Brown says the Government is committed to further lowering the bowel screening starting age as quickly as possible, and Erasmus University is undertaking modelling to support this.

Bowel cancer is New Zealand’s second biggest cancer killer. By lowering the screening age, rolling out the FIT for Symptomatic pathway, expanding diagnostic capacity, and investing in targeted initiatives, we are taking action that will save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of families from losing loved ones too soon, Mr Brown says.