Australia's new cervical cancer screening a world first

It's believed the planned option to avoid a pap smear test should encourage reluctant individuals such as indigenous women and victims of sexual abuse to get screened.

"It will attract women who don't normally get pap smears and they have the highest rates of cervical cancer," said program committee member Dr Louise Farrell.

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Women will be able to collect the self-testing kits from doctors from 2017. While planned improvements in testing will also mean that women will only have to be screened once every five years.

Unlike a pap smear, the new HPV test can be conducted using a tissue sample taken when a nylon swab is applied to the lower vagina.

Dr Farrell said HPV testing was more accurate than a pap smear and did not need to be carried out as often to detect the slow-developing cervical cancers.

"We are predicting higher detection rates than under the current program, with less intervention, longer screening intervals and lower cost to the health system," she said.

HPV testing detects genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which is often the first sign of cervical cancer.

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The age at which women are advised to start screening will be raised to 25. Currently women over the age of 18 are advised to get a pap smear every two years.

Dr Farrell said women under the age of 25 no longer needed to be screened as they were at a lower risk of developing cervical cancer and were also more likely to be vaccinated.