This paper represents a meeting report for the Fifth International Workshop on Cestode Systematics and Phylogeny held at the Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Ceské Budejovice, 18-22 July 2005. The major topics discussed included (i) the progress in cestode systematics during 2002-2005, (ii) the use of the life-cycle data in phylogenetic studies, (iii) the utilisation of new morphological and molecular characters in cestode systematics and phylogeny, and (iv) the ongoing work on the completion of the Global Cestode Database.