AUSTRALIA | The future of palliative care has been supported by the recent bipartisan support from the Australian Federal Government.
Recent bipartisan support for the Aged Care Act in parliament has been described by Palliative Care Australia as a significant step forward in making sure palliative care is embedded within aged care.
“The Aged Care Act has been a critical step in delivering on the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission,” said Camilla Rowland, CEO, Palliative Care Australia (PCA).
“Now that that work is done, we need to focus on implementation – and making sure it is part of the day-to-day work of aged care services.”
The long-term advocacy of PCA and its members around Australia was reflected in the Bill that passed, including calls for the right to equitable access to palliative care and end-of-life care for those in aged care and those seeking aged care and a shorter time frame for reporting on the operation of the Act, from five years to three years.
“I want to thank Ministers Wells, Butler, and Kearney, and the Department of Health and Aged Care, and all the parliamentarians we have spoken with over the months and weeks leading up to this week’s vote,” Rowland said.
“As always there is more to do, especially when it comes to making good on the values and rights embedded in this legislation.”
Of the 185,000 people living in residential aged care, 92 percent would benefit from palliative care, only three percent see a specialist doctor in the first year following admission, only one in three receive a GP health assessment in their first year, and only 0.1 percent entered for the purposes of receiving it.
“Making it a core business priority for aged care is challenging, and we cannot yet say that access to palliative care in residential aged care has improved since the Royal Commission,” Rowland added.
“Just this week we have shared our 2025 Federal Election Platform with all parliamentarians. It lays out a blueprint to deepen and mature the reforms of the last three years and deliver better access to palliative care to our rapidly ageing population. This is something every Australian family will deal with; we simply must do better for our elders.”
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