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Background: The importance of gender diversity is well recognized. Despite promising change in addressing gender disparity, there remains a significant gap in women's representation in urology. Worldwide, a lack of diversity has been observed at scientific meetings. This study analyses the trend in women's representation at the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting (USANZ ASM) over the last nine years., Method: We retrospectively collected data from eight conference programs between 2014 and 2022, evaluating the trend in the proportion of women represented in various sections. A difference of proportions test was performed to determine whether a significant change was seen from year to year., Results: A significant increase in women's representation was observed, the most significant increase was evident in the last three years, chairpersons increased from 5.9% to 44.1% (P = 0.003), international speakers from 11.7% to 39.1% (P ≤ 0.001), expert speakers from 19.1% to 42.0% (P = 0.002), and total speakers from 19.5% to 34.7% (P ≤ 0.001)., Conclusion: Our study shows that a significant increase in the representation of women at the USANZ ASM has been achieved over the last three years. Unfortunately, this increase in representation has not been mirrored in the number of women trainees and training applicants. Additionally, this increase in representation well exceeds the proportion of women who are USANZ members, and is unevenly distributed across topics. A positive change has been observed, the challenge remains in dealing with unconscious bias and balancing the fine line between inclusivity and tokenism., (© 2023 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.)

Purpose: This systematic review evaluates factors influencing breast cancer outcomes for women treated in Australia, facilitating the exploration of disparities in breast cancer outcomes for certain groups of women in Australia., Method: A systematic literature search was performed using MEDLINE and Scopus focusing on breast cancer in Australia with outcome measures being breast cancer survival and recurrence with no restrictions on date. Risk of bias was assessed using Cairns Assessment Scale for Observational studies of Risk factors (CASOR)., Results: Fifteen quantitative studies were included: two were high quality, 11 were intermediate quality, and two were low quality. Traditional risk factors such as invasive tumour type, larger size, higher grade and stage, lymph node involvement and absence of hormone receptors were found to be associated with breast cancer mortality. Being younger (<40 years old) and older (>70 years old), having more comorbidities, being of lower socioeconomic status, identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, living in more rural areas or having a mastectomy were factors found to be associated with poorer breast cancer outcomes., Conclusion: Despite the heterogeneity of the studies, this review identified significant risk factors for breast cancer mortality and recurrence. The use of this data would be most useful in developing evidence-based interventions and in optimising patient care through creation of a prediction model., Prospero Registration: CRD42017072857., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)