THE ACT Government says it will set up a working group to investigate possible links between escalating cancer rates among firefighters and their workplace.
The move comes after The Sunday Canberra Times reported earlier this month that at least six firemen had died in the past few years as a result of cancer-related illnesses in the territory.
ACT Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell said the Government was taking the issue seriously.
He has asked the United Firefighters Union to join with the ACT Emergency Services Agency, occupational health and safety, and health representatives to put together a working group to investigate the possible cancer-work link and advise him on the best way forward
The minister, who volunteers with his local ACT Rural Fire Service brigade, is yet to set a timeline for the group, but said he had agreed "in principle" with the union that it was the "way to go".
They planned to work out the details in the coming weeks.
"It's still very early days at this stage, but I think this is an important way to progress the issue, which is a new one for Australia.
"As a whole, Australia hasn't considered the issue in the same way the United States has.
"I think the Government needs to be better informed on it, and this working group will give me that advice on the best way forward."
Presumptive legislation acknowledging cancer-related links to firefighters' work already exists in the US and Canada.
The ACT union, which is joining a national call to have such legislation in Australia, welcomed the move.
UFU ACT branch secretary Eric Williams said he would see how the working group progressed and that having the union involved would make it more "trustworthy".
"Mr Corbell is trying to assemble the best and most logical people for it and taking it seriously in that regard," he said.
"We believe the data [which shows the cancers are work-related] is already there, it's compelling and the science backs us, so I can only see it coming out with one conclusion, and that is that this is real.
"People are dying and this will have to be dealt with. The next step will be a political one."
The call comes after a University of Cincinnati study, issued late last year, confirmed firefighters were twice as likely to develop prostate and testicular cancer and have "significantly" higher rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Mr Williams said the study included about 3000 Australian firefighters.
There are 311 firefighters in the ACT and about 14,000 nationally.