Brain Tumour Alliance Australia (BTAA)

08/09/2026

We need more shoes for Head to the Hill 2026.

If you or someone you love has been affected by a brain tumour, please consider sending us a pair of shoes to become part of our Parliament House installation. https://btaa.org.au/head-to-the-hill-shoe-collection-form/

In the weeks before Head to the Hill, we carefully and respectfully sort the shoes and the stories behind them. The hardest are the tiny ones — baby shoes, children’s shoes and those belonging to young people whose lives have been changed or cut short by a brain tumour.

Head to the Hill is about advocacy, but it is also about remembering.

Our kids matter. They still matter even when they are no longer here.

Every pair helps show the enormous impact brain tumours have on our community and allows your loved one to become part of the Head to the Hill legacy.

Everyone matters. Every story matters. Every pair of shoes tells a story.

We need to do better.

07/09/2026

Run through the heart of the capital, past Parliament House, to a finish by the lake. 🏛️🧡

On Sunday 1 November, The Canberra Times Run Canberra hits the streets — fast, flat and perfect for a PB or your very first race. Pick your distance (Half Marathon, 10km, 5km or 2km Kids Dash), grab your crew, and run it for Brain Tumour Alliance Australia!

Every dollar you raise helps us push for better treatments and faster access to medicines for the brain tumour community.

👟 Not signed up? Register at https://solemotive.com/pages/run-canberra
🧡 Already in? Start fundraising for BTAA: https://runcanberra26.grassrootz.com/brain-tumour-alliance-australia

Take part in Run Canberra in the half marathon for a challenge or participate in the 10K, 5K or Kids Dash!

03/09/2026

Run for something bigger this October. 🧡

On 10–11 October, thousands will take on the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival, and you can do it for Brain Tumour Alliance Australia.

Whether you run, jog, wheel or walk, there's a distance for everyone: 5km, 10km, the Half (21.1km) or the full Marathon (42.2km), finishing with a lap of honour around the MCG. You don't have to be a marathoner, you just have to show up for a community that needs you.

Brain cancer is the deadliest cancer for young Australians, and survival rates have barely moved in decades. Every dollar you raise helps BTAA advocate for better treatments, faster access to medicines, and a stronger voice for everyone affected by a brain tumour.

Two easy ways to join Team BTAA:

🏃 Not registered yet? Sign up at https://melbournemarathon.com.au and fundraise for BTAA in one go.

✅ Already registered? Choose BTAA as your charity and start fundraising: https://melbmara2026.grassrootz.com/brain-tumour-alliance-australia

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03/09/2026

For 16-year-old Coby Metzler and his family, time is running out.

Coby is living with diffuse midline glioma - an aggressive and devastating brain cancer. A world-first Australian trial of a personalised mRNA vaccine offers a sliver of hope, but his family fears he may not live long enough to access it.

Speaking to ABC News, BTAA Director Oliver Jarrett said it was heartbreaking for patients to see a potential treatment on the horizon but be unable to access it.

Oliver has called for pharmaceutical companies to provide genuine compassionate access to experimental treatments while they are being studied, free of charge, so patients have an option. He also highlighted the urgent need to attract more advanced cancer trials to Australia, which currently secures only a small proportion of the world’s phase two and three trials.

Coby’s story is a painful reminder that research cannot move quickly enough for families facing brain cancer today. Australians deserve greater access to clinical trials, faster pathways to promising new treatments and sustained national investment in brain cancer research.

This is why our community will come together at Head to the Hill at Parliament House on 14 October. We are asking the Australian Government to:

🔬 Partner with BTAA and the Australian Brain Tumour Collaborative to co-design the next phase and implementation of the Brain Cancer Research and Trials Roadmap, including how the $50 million MRFF investment is prioritised.

💙 Invest $8.75 million to implement a national Brain Cancer Care Coordinator framework, including 23 specialised nurses

🤝 Sustain and scale the National Advocacy Service through $1.175 million in dedicated annual funding

Behind every request is a person like Coby and a family desperately searching for more time, more options and more hope.

Read Coby and Brigette’s story and Oliver Jarrett’s comments:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-01/mother-worries-son-will-die-brain-cancer-without-trial-drug/107096898

Read The Australian Brain Cancer Landscape 2025:
https://btaa.org.au/new-research-into-brain-cancers-impact-on-society/the-australian-brain-cancer-landscape-2025/

Learn more and register for Head to the Hill 2026:
https://btaa.org.au/head-to-the-hill-2026/

One Voice. One Community. One National Call to Action.

Head to the Hill 2026 will be held on Wednesday, 14 October 2026 in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra.

03/09/2026

02/09/2026

One voice. One community. One national call to action. 💙

On 14 October, the brain tumour community will come together at Parliament House in Canberra for Head to the Hill 2026.

Patients. Carers. Bereaved families. Clinicians. Researchers. Advocates.

Together, we’ll make sure decision-makers hear what matters most to people affected by brain tumours — better research, better care, better support and better outcomes.

👟 1,000 pairs of shoes.
🗣️ Hundreds of voices.
🏛️ One day at Parliament House.
💙 One united community.

Be part of it.

📅 Wednesday 14 October 2026
📍 The Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra

Register now at https://btaa.org.au/head-to-the-hill-2026/

02/09/2026

This October, we’re taking brain cancer back to Parliament House.

Behind every diagnosis is a person.
A family.
A story.
And an urgent need for change.

On Wednesday 14 October 2026, the Australian brain tumour community will come together at Parliament House in Canberra for Head to the Hill 2026.

Patients. Carers. Bereaved families. Researchers. Clinicians. Advocates. Decision-makers.

Together, we will make sure the voices of people affected by brain cancer are impossible to ignore.

We will honour those we have lost.
Stand beside those living with brain cancer today.
And call for the research, clinical care and support Australians affected by brain cancer deserve.

This is more than an event.

It is one community standing together with one national call to action.

💙 HEAD TO THE HILL 2026
📍 Parliament House, Canberra
📅 Wednesday 14 October 2026

One Voice. One Community. One National Call to Action.

👉 Register now and stand with us. https://btaa.org.au/head-to-the-hill-2026/

02/09/2026

This September, for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we stand with every child and family whose lives have been changed by cancer. 💛

For children diagnosed with a brain tumour, the journey can involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, rehabilitation, clinical trials and months or years of uncertainty. And even when treatment ends, the effects can continue through changes to learning, mobility, cognition, communication and everyday childhood.

Behind every statistic is a child with a personality, dreams, friendships and a family who loves them fiercely.

At Brain Tumour Alliance Australia, we believe children affected by brain cancer deserve better treatments, greater access to clinical trials, coordinated specialist care and sustained investment in paediatric brain cancer research.

This month, we wear gold for the children undergoing treatment, for survivors living with the lasting effects of their cancer, for the families walking beside them, and for the children who are no longer here.

We honour them by continuing to advocate for better.

💛 Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
For every child. For every family. For a future with better outcomes.

01/09/2026

Run the coast for a cause. 🌊

On 10–11 October, the fisiocrem GC50 Run Festival brings a weekend of running and beachside festival vibes to Coolangatta on the Southern Gold Coast — and you can take it on for Brain Tumour Alliance Australia.

Flat, scenic courses with sweeping ocean views mean there's something for everyone: the 50km Ultra, the Half Marathon, 10km, 5km or the Kids Dash.

Brain cancer is the deadliest cancer for young Australians, and survival rates have barely moved in decades. Every dollar you raise helps BTAA advocate for better treatments, faster access to medicines, and a stronger voice for everyone affected by a brain tumour.

Two easy ways to join Team BTAA:

🏃 Not registered yet? Sign up at https://www.gc50runfestival.com.au and fundraise for BTAA.

✅ Already registered? Choose BTAA as your charity and start fundraising: https://gc50runfestival26.grassrootz.com/brain-tumour-alliance-australia

Offering a race for everyone, included our flagship 50km Ultra and Half Marathon, or take on the shorter distance 10km, 5km & Kids Dash.