Systemic sclerosis (SSc) refers to an autoimmune fibrosing disorder with high disease burden and mortality. The prevalence of 23/100 000 in South Australia (SA) is among the highest documented, but anecdotally it is higher still in Cairns.

Acknowledgements 

Assistance with data collection and data analysis was provided by Professor Michael James (Rheumatology Internal Medicine Journal 50 (2020) 445–452 © 2019 Royal Australasian College of Physicians Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia) and Dr Michelle Wilson (St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria). The South Australian data were collected from the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS) database. James Cook University provided a grant. The ASCS is or has been supported by Actelion, GSK, Pfizer, BMS, Roche and Bayer. Support from Scleroderma Australia, Scleroderma Victoria, Arthritis Australia, move (muscle, bone and joint health), Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC), Australian Rheumatology Association, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne IT Department and Research Endowment Fund (REF) is also acknowledged.