Program committee member Louise Farrell said the option to avoid the invasive test would encourage indigenous women, victims of sexual abuse and those reluctant to get pap smears for cultural reasons to get screened.

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

She said only women who had never had a pap smear, or were long overdue for one, would be able to collect the self-testing kits from their doctor from 2017. The advance is one of a raft of changes to the National Cervical Cancer Screening Program.

In addition, from May 2017 women will only have to be screened for cervical cancer once every five years instead of every two years because of improvements in detection testing.

HPV testing will replace pap smears from 2017 and the age at which women are advised to start screening will be raised to 25. Under the existing recommendations, women over the age of 18 are advised to get a pap smear every two years to screen for cervical cancer.

Unlike a pap smear, the 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.

Since 2007, female schoolchildren and women under the age of 25 have been offered free vaccinations against the virus, and from 2013 teenage boys have also been immunised to prevent them from infecting future sexual partners.

Tahlia Meredith, 32, received a shock diagnosis of cervical cancer in 2012, despite having been vaccinated.

"It was just a routine pap smear," she said. "I was expecting everything to be fine."

The cancer was picked up early and she is now clear of the disease, but still has to get pap tests every six months to make sure it does not return.

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.

About 700 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year, claiming the lives of 150 women per year.

Women are still advised to get pap smears every two years until the changes come into effect in 2017.

PapScreen Victoria program manager Hiranthi Perera said adapting to the changes would be a challenge to health providers but would be a great benefit to women.