Margie Abbott has told a charity brunch to launch Pink Lipstick Day that she has always encouraged her daughters to be cancer aware.

The prime minister's wife, Margie Abbott, says she encourages her daughters to be vigilant with their health and to undertake regular breast checks and pap smears.

Speaking at a Pink Hope charity brunch at Kirribilli House on Wednesday, Mrs Abbott told an audience of celebrities, volunteers and cancer survivors how she urges her three daughters to be cancer aware.

"As a mother, I encourage my daughters to be proactive with their health," Mrs Abbott said.

"I want them to be aware of regular breast checks, pap smears and mammograms," she said.

Mrs Abbott discovered earlier this year that her paternal grandmother had died of cancer of the spine, which had metastised into cancer of the breast.

The brunch, attended by local identities - Natarsha Belling, Kyly Clarke, Carla Zampatti, Deborah Thomas, Shelly Horton, Nikki Phillips - was held to launch the non-profit organisation's Bright Pink Lipstick Day, an annual awareness raising event taking place on Friday September 26.

Pink Hope was founded by Krystal Barter after she discovered her family's cancer history was due to a gene fault called BRCA1, the same gene made famous by Angelina Jolie.

Carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are 65 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer and have a 40 per cent increased risk of ovarian cancer.

"I stand here today representing a charity on a mission - to ensure this generation's high risk families are not the next generation's cancer sufferers," Ms Barter said.

"Watching every woman in my family diagnosed with cancer because of the BRCA gene was life changing."

Ms Barter said celebrity ambassadors who were unable to attend and have shown their support include model sisters Ashley and Jessica Hart, Nicole Trunfio, Jesinta Campbell and Natalie Gruwsleski.

Copyright AAP 2014