• About Pap tests or Pap smears
• Who should have Pap tests or Pap smears?
• Vaccinated women
• Pregnant women
• Older women
• After hysterectomy
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
• Culturally and linguistically diverse women
• Women with disabilities
• Lesbians
• Victim/survivors of sexual assault
• The human papillomavirus (HPV)
• The cervical cancer vaccine
• Abnormal Pap test (or Pap smear) results and treatment
• Cervical cancer

Older women

The risk of cervical cancer increases with age, so it is important for women to continue having regular Pap tests until they turn 70.

About half of all cases of cervical cancer occur in women older than 50 years, yet many women over this age think they are not at risk from the disease.

Cancer Council Victoria research shows:

• The risk of cervical cancer actually increases with age
• Women over 50 are far more likely than younger women to die from cervical cancer
• In Victoria in 2010, 67% of women who died from cervical cancer were over 50

Women still need to have regular Pap tests:

• if they are no longer sexually active
• after menopause
• some women may need to continue having Pap tests after hysterectomy.

If you have had two normal Pap test results in the five years before you turn 70, you can stop having Pap tests. After 70, the risk of developing cervical cancer after having regular, normal Pap tests throughout your life is minimal.

If you have not had regular Pap tests or have had abnormal results from recent Pap tests, you may need to keep having Pap tests for a few more years. Ask your doctor or nurse for advice. 

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