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It was June 2014.

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I was 30 years old,

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and I received a call
from my doctor's office

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to say my test results were in.

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So I walked up to see her
in my lunch break, and my doctor said

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she was very sorry to tell me
that I had breast cancer.

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I didn't want to believe her
and at first, I didn't.

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You see, I'm a lawyer
and I needed some evidence.

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So I'm very embarrassed to tell you all

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that I stood up and I walked around
to where she was sitting

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so that I could look
over her shoulder and verify

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what was written
on the page in front of her.

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(Laughter)

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Malignant carcinoma.

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But still not wanting
to believe it, I said,

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"Now, malignant carcinoma,
you're sure that means cancer?"

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(Laughter)

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She told me she was sure.

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Back at work, I handed over
the urgent things that needed to be done

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while I was having more tests
to see if my cancer had spread.

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But at that moment,
work wasn't my priority.

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I was thinking about how I was going
to tell my family and friends

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that I had cancer.

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How I was going to answer their questions

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about how bad it was
and whether I was going to be OK,

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when I didn't know that myself.

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I was wondering if my partner and I

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would ever have an opportunity
to start a family.

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And I was figuring out
how I was going to tell my mother,

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who had herself had breast cancer
when she was pregnant with me.

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She would know how I was feeling

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and have an idea of what lay ahead for me.

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But I also didn't want her
to have to relive her cancer experience.

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What I didn't appreciate at the time

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was that work was about to play
a huge role in my treatment and recovery.

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That it would be my coworkers and my job

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that would make me feel valuable and human

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at times when I would have
otherwise felt like a statistic.

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That it would be my job
that would give me routine and stability

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when I was dealing with so many
difficult personal decisions

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and so much uncertainty.

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Like, what sort of breast
reconstruction I was going to have.

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And at a time like that,

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you would think that I would turn
to my family and friends for support.

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And yes, of course I did that.

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But it would ultimately be my colleagues

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who would play a huge role
in my day-to-day life.

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And they would be
the ones to make me laugh.

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You see, we were a pretty close team,

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and we shared a couple
of really good in-jokes,

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like this time they overheard
someone ask me

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how I got my hair so shiny and perfect --

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without knowing that it was,
of course, a wig,

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and you know, it was a very good wig

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and it did make getting ready
in the mornings very easy.

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(Laughter)

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But in little moments like this,
I appreciated what their support meant,

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and I wondered what I would
have done without that network.

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I've spoken with so many people,
women in particular,

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who haven't had the chance
to have that network

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because they haven't been given
the opportunity to work through treatment.

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And there are several reasons for this.

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But I think it mostly comes down
to overly paternalistic employers.

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These employers want you to go away
and focus on yourself.

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And come back when you're better.

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And they use those kinds of phrases.

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And while these responses
are well-meaning,

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knowing the benefits it brought me,

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it makes me incredibly frustrated

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when people are told
that they couldn’t or shouldn't work,

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when it's something that they want to do
and physically can do.

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So I started to look into
what an employer is required to do

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when someone presents
with a cancer diagnosis.

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I discovered that under Australian law,
cancer is considered a disability.

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So if you are unable to perform
your usual work duties,

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your employer is obligated
by the Disability Discrimination Act

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to make reasonable adjustments
to your working arrangements,

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so that you can continue to work.

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What would reasonable
adjustments look like for me?

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I knew the obvious impacts
my diagnosis was going to have on work.

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Medical appointments would be scheduled
during business hours,

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and I knew that I would need time off
to recover from surgical procedures.

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Again, being a typical lawyer,

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I had done my due diligence
on what to expect from treatment.

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Admittedly, a lot of that
was through Doctor Google,

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perhaps not my best move
and I wouldn't recommend that.

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(Laughter)

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But while I was ready
for all the physical side effects,

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what really scared me
was this thing called chemo brain.

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Chemo brain presents itself
through memory loss,

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an inability to concentrate

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and an inability to solve problems.

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And if this happened to me,

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I wondered how I was going to do
my job as a lawyer.

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Would I be forced to leave work?

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And how could I possibly
have a discussion with my manager

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about reasonable adjustments
to my working arrangements

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when I didn't know
how I was going to be impacted?

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I was fortunate to have
a supportive manager

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who was happy to see
how things went as we went along,

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rather than requiring
a concrete plan up front.

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I was lucky that while
he may not have even known

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about this concept
of reasonable adjustments,

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to him, it was just common sense.

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But I've learned that it's not
common sense to everyone.

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Everyone going through treatment
will learn how it impacts them

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and what their limitations are.

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And they'll learn to adjust for that.

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So for me, there were the tips and tricks
that I learned about the treatment itself,

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like, before you go to chemo,

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you need to make sure
you're really well hydrated

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and that you're warm, because it helps
the nurses to find your veins.

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And make sure that you don't eat
any of your favorite food,

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either before or after chemo,

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because you're going to be
throwing that up

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and you won't ever
want to look at it again.

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(Laughter)

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I learned that one the hard way.

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And then there were the tricks
for managing my workflow.

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I scheduled chemo for first thing
on a Monday morning.

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I knew that from the time
I left the cancer care unit,

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I had about four hours
before this fog screen would come down

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and I would start to be sick.

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So I would use that time to clean my inbox
and make any urgent calls.

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The worst of the sickness would be gone
within about 48 hours.

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And then I would log back
into work from home.

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This treatment continued
and I knew what to expect.

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I was able to set reasonable expectations
with my business partners

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about what I could do

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and the time frames that I could do it in.

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But I still remember
the hesitation in their voices

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when it came to asking for things.

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And asking me to do things
by a certain time.

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And trust me, these were people

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that were not afraid
of setting a good deadline.

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(Laughter)

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I got the impression they didn't want
to put any extra pressure on me

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while I was going through treatment.

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And while I appreciated the sentiment,

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I actually needed the deadlines.

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To me, that was something
within my control

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and something
that could stay in my control

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when there were so many
things that couldn't.

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And as I was working from home,

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I was thinking about how employers
should be applying this concept

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of reasonable adjustments
in our current age,

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where one in two Australian men and women

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will be diagnosed with cancer
by the age of 85.

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So, as we continue to work
longer and longer into older age,

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the chances of having a serious illness
while we're in the workforce

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are increasing.

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And with technology enabling us
to work anywhere, any time,

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reasonable adjustments
are no longer contingent upon

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whether or not you can continue
to physically make it

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into the physical office.

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Reasonable adjustments are also not about

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just offering a longer break
or a comfier chair to sit in,

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although those things might be good, too.

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At the very least,

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we need to be applying
the flexibility policies and strategies

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we've developed for other scenarios,

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like for people
with family responsibilities.

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But how can we ensure that people
are even having a conversation

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about what reasonable adjustments
might look like for them

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if a manager's first response is to say,

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"Oh no, don't come back to work
until you're better."

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And a light went on for me.

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It must be compulsory for managers

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to have to have these conversations
with their employees.

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And lessons from people like me,

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that have really benefited
from working through treatment,

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need to be more widely shared.

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And I thought about what could be done
to guide these conversations,

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and then an amazing
colleague of mine, Camilla Gunn,

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developed a "Working with Cancer" toolkit.

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The toolkit provides a framework
for those diagnosed,

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their managers, their carers
and their coworkers

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to have conversations about cancer
and the work support available.

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Camilla and I have now been
to other organizations

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to talk about the toolkit

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and how it can help to guide through

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what, quite frankly, are otherwise
some pretty awkward conversations.

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And I'm pleased to say that the uptake
of the toolkit is increasing.

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So what should be
a manager's first response

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when somebody says that they're sick

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and they don't know
how it's going to impact their work?

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It must be this:

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"To the extent that you
are able, and want to,

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we would love to work out
an arrangement for you

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to continue to work through treatment."

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We need to start positively engaging
people with serious illness

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to keep them in the workforce,

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rather than paternalistically
pushing them away.

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I've told you my story
because I want you to know the benefits

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that working through treatment brought me.

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And I also want to change your perceptions

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if you think that somebody
going through treatment

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is just bored, frail and vomiting a lot.

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And yes, these things
were true some of the time,

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if not a lot of the time,

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but I was also determined
to push myself at work

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as much as I had always done.

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And I was able to do that
because my employer gave me the choice.

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Most importantly, I'm telling you

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because while it's a seemingly
obvious choice to give someone,

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it's not one that is always
offered or encouraged.

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And it must be.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)