About the National Bowel Screening Programme
The programme is free to those eligible. It helps find bowel cancer early when it can often be successfully treated.
Pātiki and Waharua Kōpito patterns
On this page
Information for the public
For information about taking part in free bowel screening:
- Visit the bowel screening website (external link)
- Phone 0800 924 432
- Email info@bowelscreening.health.nz
Participation rates
Latest programme participation rates (external link) are available on the Health NZ website.
This tool allows the participation rate data to be stratified by ethnicity, age, and gender.
Due to the six-month time frame that participants are given to complete and return the kit, there is a six-month time lag for participation rate numbers.
Benefits of bowel screening
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world. Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand. More than 3300 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year and more than 1200 die from it.
Bowel cancer often has no symptoms. The bowel screening test ( a faecal immunochemical test or FIT) can detect tiny traces of blood in the bowel motion. It helps save lives by finding bowel cancer early, when it can often be successfully treated.
A positive bowel screening test result is usually followed by a colonoscopy or further investigation. A positive result does not necessarily mean a person has bowel cancer. Small amounts of blood in the bowel motion are often caused by bowel polyps (growths), or other minor conditions such as haemorrhoids (piles).
Data from our programme shows that the bowel screening test will find at least 7 out of 10 cancers that are present at the time of testing. Bowel cancers do not bleed all the time, so sometimes a cancer can be missed. Bowel cancer may also start to develop between screening tests. For these reasons it’s important to have bowel screening every two years. Participants are advised to see their GP if any bowel cancer symptoms develop between tests.
About 7 in 10 people who have a colonoscopy as part of the National Bowel Screening Programme will have polyps. These are not cancer, but they may develop into a cancer over a number of years. Most polyps can be easily removed, reducing the risk that bowel cancer will develop.
About 7 in 100 people who have a colonoscopy as part of the programme will be found to have cancer. At least 40% of the cancers detected are early stage when they can often be successfully treated.
Lowering of the bowel screening starting age to 58
The age at which people can start participating in the free National Bowel Screening Programme has been lowered from 60 to 58 years old. This is available for people living in the following regions:
- Northland
- Auckland (including Counties Manukau and Waitematā)
- South Island
From March 2026, the lower starting age of 58 will be introduced to the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand (Central and Midland regions of North Island).
Lowering the age to 58 means that at least 122,000 more people will be eligible for screening over the first year.
Saving lives
- Modelling estimates that lowering the bowel screening starting age to 58 will prevent 771 additional bowel cancers and 566 additional deaths over 25 years, compared to the current 60 to 74 age range.
- There will also be significant investment in initiatives to lift bowel screening participation in groups with lower screening rates.
Getting a bowel screening kit
People turning 58, or who are already 58 or 59, do not need to do anything.
They will be mailed their bowel screening kit around their next birthday or be contacted by a local health provider, once age extension is introduced in their area.
People turning 60 will receive a kit around their birthday, regardless of the availability of the lower age range in their area.
Information for primary care
The factsheet 'At a glance' has information about age extension for primary care, including an eligibility guide.
Details about age extension
How many bowel cancers and bowel cancer deaths this change will prevent
How many bowel cancers and bowel cancer deaths this change will prevent
Lowering the bowel screening starting age to 58 for all is estimated to prevent 771 more colorectal cancer cases and 566 more deaths over a period of 25 years when compared with the current eligibility age of 60 to 74.
It is estimated to prevent 161 more cases of colorectal cancer and 117 more deaths among Māori and Pacific Peoples over a period of 25 years.
How many more people will be screened with a starting age of 58
How many more people will be screened with a starting age of 58
Lowering the age to 58 means that at least 122,000 more people will be eligible for screening over the first year than is currently the case.
When people can take part in the free bowel screening programme
When people can take part in the free bowel screening programme
| Your age | Can I take part in the free National Bowel Screening Programme? | What will happen |
| 60 to 74 years old | Yes |
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| 57 years old | You will be eligible to take part once you turn 58, when the lower starting age of 58 is rolled out in your area . |
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| Already 58 | You will be eligible to take part once the lower starting age is rolled out in your district. |
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| Already 59 | You will be eligible to take part once the lower starting age is rolled out in your district. |
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What the additional colonoscopy demand will be, and current service capacity
What the additional colonoscopy demand will be, and current service capacity
An estimated 5,000 additional colonoscopies over four years will be required.
While there is currently high demand for colonoscopy services, the impact from age extension is expected to be relatively small — about a 2% increase in the overall colonoscopies performed over four years (including screening, surveillance and urgent and non-urgent colonoscopies). Health NZ is actively managing colonoscopy capacity to mitigate the impact of age extension.
Number of colonoscopies carried out in New Zealand annually
Number of colonoscopies carried out in New Zealand annually
A total of 62,957 colonoscopies were performed in New Zealand in 2023. Of these, 6,898 were carried out as part of the National Bowel Screening Programme.
Introducing the new starting age
Introducing the new starting age
Lowering the bowel screening starting age to 58 is taking place in two stages.
The first stage began in October 2025 in the Northern region and South Island.
The second stage begins in March 2026, which means the lower starting age will be available to the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Initiatives to lift screening participation rates in groups with lower screening rates
Initiatives to lift screening participation rates in groups with lower screening rates
A number of initiatives to lift bowel screening participation rates are being planned or are underway.
- Approaches to improve participation rates in high-needs groups: Engagement activities for high-needs populations prior to the NBSP sending screening invitations. This may involve using text-based communications, phone, and face-to-face engagement.
- National roll out of lab drop off: Enables bowel screening kits to be returned and dropped off at community laboratories as an alternative to postal return, which is more culturally acceptable for some.
- Availability of bar coded kits: This will enable kits to be given directly to high needs groups in selected settings such as GP appointments, outreach and events.
- Kaimahi education module: A web-based education module to upskill community and district kaimahi in the NBSP and help inform conversations when engaging with communities about the NBSP.
- May bowel screening primary care promotion: A primary care promotion held every May that supports general practices across the country to promote opportunistic conversations about bowel screening with patients from high-need communities. Over 400 general practices took part in 2025.
- Multimedia campaign: The national multimedia campaign and regional campaigns have been updated with the new age range; bowel screening collateral has been updated.
The age at which other countries offer bowel screening programmes
The age at which other countries offer bowel screening programmes
Lowering the overall eligibility age will bring New Zealand’s national bowel screening programme further in line with other comparable countries, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In Australia, following an age reduction on 1 July 2024, the bowel screening starting age is now 45 years. The United Kingdom has been progressively lowering its eligibility age from 60 to 50 years over four years since April 2021. In the Netherlands, bowel screening is available from the age of 55.
Government expects the New Zealand bowel screening programme’s eligibility age to continue to be lowered over time as resourcing and colonoscopy capacity allows.
How age extension is being funded
How age extension is being funded
Budget 2022 allocated $36.141 million over four years to fund lowering the bowel screening age from 60 to 50 years for Māori and Pacific peoples. The Government has repurposed this funding to lower the starting bowel screening age to 58 for everyone.
This includes funding of $19.3m allocated to invest in initiatives to improve screening participation among groups with low screening rates.
Current pilots for Māori and Pacific Peoples
Health NZ Tairāwhiti and MidCentral districts are offering bowel screening from the age of 50 for Māori and Pacific Peoples as part of a two-year learning pilot. The Tairawhiti pilot completes in October 2025, and the MidCentral pilot completes in November 2025. Waikato district completed their two-year pilot in December 2024.
People who are part of those pilots will continue to be invited for bowel screening, provided they remain eligible and still live in either MidCentral, Tairāwhiti or Waikato districts until they turn 75.
Programme structure
The National Bowel Screening Programme was rolled out between July 2017 and May 2022, following a successful pilot offering bowel screening to eligible people aged 50 to 74 years living in the Waitematā DHB area. Data collected during the pilot provided vital information on participation levels, cancer detection rates and the impact on health services, and helped inform decisions about the national programme.
Today, the National Bowel Screening Programme sits within Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora National Public Health Service.
The operational hub of the programme is Whakarongorau | National Coordination Centre which sends letters to people who return a negative FIT, a spoilt kit or who request a replacement kit. They are also the contact point (freephone and e-mail) for potential participants and GPs who have queries about the programme.
LabPLUS provides laboratory services for the National Bowel Screening Programme.
Health NZ districts carry out screening locally, on behalf of the National Bowel Screening Programme. Districts provide free follow-up investigations such as colonoscopy and other treatments.
National Bowel Cancer Working Group
The National Bowel Cancer Working Group (NBCWG) is jointly managed by Te Aho o Te Kahu | the Cancer Control Agency and the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora National Bowel Screening Programme. It was initially convened by the Ministry of Health in 2009.
The NBCWG provides advice, expertise and support to Te Aho o Te Kahu and the National Bowel Screening Programme. Members represent a broad range of professional disciplines, including from gastroenterology, endoscopy, oncology, radiology, public health and primary care. There are Māori and equity representatives, consumer representatives, and representatives from the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service. The group comprises a total of 16 to 18 members from across the country.
The purpose of the group is to:
- Support Te Aho o Te Kahu and the National Bowel Screening Programme in their efforts to achieve equitable, efficient, and sustainable best practice management of bowel cancer in the New Zealand health system.
- Promote a nationally co-ordinated and consistent approach to the delivery of care for people with bowel cancer or at increased risk of bowel cancer, promoting equitable, timely diagnostic and quality care for all individuals and family/whānau.
- Support Te Aho o Te Kahu to analyse and report on the bowel QPIs, which were initially calculated in 2019 and were recalculated in 2022 (they are next scheduled to be recalculated in 2024).
- Support the National Bowel Screening Programme by providing advice and wider input on clinical or professional matters of relevance to the programme.
- Support the delivery of an effective high quality National Bowel Screening Programme by reviewing and providing advice regarding programme performance data.
The NBCWG is an advisory group, not a decision-making group. Decision making/accountability sits with Te Aho o Te Kahu and/or the National Bowel Screening Programme for their respective deliverables.
Role of primary care
General practice and community care have a key role to play in the success of the National Bowel Screening Programme.
They advise patients of positive test results, refer them for a screening colonoscopy and support them through the process. They also raise awareness about bowel screening and encourage participation.
GPs play an important role in advising their patients if their family history of bowel cancer requires referral for surveillance colonoscopy or referral to the New Zealand Familial GI Cancer Service website (external link).
See also:
Equity
Making sure all New Zealanders, regardless of their ethnicity or location, have the opportunity to participate and benefit from bowel screening is key for the National Bowel Screening Programme. Currently the programme is not delivering equitable access for Māori and Pacific peoples with participation rates well below the overall programme rate (external link).
The programme promotes equitable participation by:
- targeting actions to increase participation in bowel screening for Māori, Pacific and high deprivation population groups (active follow-up on invitations, targeted health promotion, engagement with community groups, churches and marae)
- supporting Māori and Pacific networks to encourage more participation among Māori and Pacific peoples
- requiring districts to have equity plans, to implement locally appropriate actions
- national monitoring of participation and outcomes by ethnicity
- involving primary care in promoting participation and managing positive results
- multimedia promotions to priority groups
- national governance with a strong focus on equity.
Family history of bowel cancer
Some people may have an increased risk of developing bowel cancer and be advised to have regular colonoscopy or be referred to the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service (external link) for assessment.
The risk factors include:
- two or more close family members on the same side of the family who have had bowel cancer
- a close family member who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age (under 55 years)
- they or their family have a known or suspected genetic bowel cancer syndrome.
For more on familial gastrointestinal cancer go to the New Zealand Familial GI Cancer Service (external link).
See also: