Exclusive: Australian patient data compromised in Icon Cancer Centre hack

The operator of a global suite of cancer care providers has confirmed patient data has been impacted by a data breach involving Australia’s largest cancer care provider, the Icon Cancer Centre.

“Icon Oncology Group is managing a data breach incident involving unauthorised access to some patient information held on a supplier’s system,” the Group said in an October 12 notification on its website.

“On becoming aware of the incident, we acted immediately. We activated our incident response plan, reset access to the affected system to prevent any further unauthorised intrusion, and engaged specialist cyber security and forensic advisers to assist in assessing the incident. We have also notified the Australian Federal Police and the relevant regulators.”

The Group said that it has “obtained a copy of the impacted records” and is working to confirm which patients have been impacted, and exactly what data has been compromised.

“At this stage, we believe the records do not comprise complete patient files, but rather discrete documents associated with correspondence for our business,” the Group said.

“The Group’s systems are secure and operating normally, and patient care and treatment are not affected.”

The Group’s confirmation comes two days after the Icon Cancer Centre, which is headquartered in South Brisbane, was mentioned in a for sale post on a popular underground hacking forum by a hacker known as 2019.

According to the threat actor, they are in possession of more than 31,000 “sensitive and confidential documents” that include patient names, addresses, diagnoses, and Medicare details.

The hacker shared several files allegedly stolen from the Icon Cancer Centre’s supplier, which include details of consulting physicians, treating doctors, patient correspondence, and more. The data is currently being offered for sale in a one-time offer in cryptocurrency.

According to their forum profile, 2019 became active in January 2026 and has made a total of 45posts, most of which refer to data breaches and other leaks with a particular focus on Australian organisations.

The hacker’s recent Australian victims include BestPriceTravel Australia , Court Services Victoria , and LifeLine Australia .

What is the Icon Cancer Centre?

The Icon Cancer Centre describes itself as “Australia’s largest dedicated provider of cancer care services” – the Centre operates more than 40 individual Icon Cancer Centres in all seven states and territories.

The Centre’s sites include day oncology hospitals that provide chemotherapy treatment, research, and clinical trials “under one roof”.

Besides the Icon Cancer Centre, the Icon Oncology Group is based in Australia and provides cancer care in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The Group also includes Slade Health, Australia’s largest chemotherapy compounder, and Epic Pharmacy locations in Lismore and Newcastle.

David Hollingworth has been writing technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk Lego.