Every year Palliative Care Australia (PCA) commissions the National Palliative Care Community Survey as part of National Palliative Care Week. The survey explores community attitudes around palliative care, end-of-life, death and dying. PCA commissioned Pure Profile to undertake the 2022 survey. This report contains data relating to Australian residents.

National Palliative Care Community Survey 2022

Key Findings

• 96% of Australians believe it is important that aged care services are able to provide palliative care to their clients/residents.
• 92% of respondents support the World Health Organization statement that palliative care is explicitly recognised as a human right.
• Most Australians have heard of the term ‘palliative care’ (92%) and would be likely to ask for palliative care for themselves, or someone close to them, if they had a serious, prolonged or terminal illness (76%).
• 88% of people believe it is important to start thinking and talking about their wishes and preferences for care (if they were to become seriously or terminally ill), but despite this, well over half of Australians (56%) have not undertaken any action regarding talking about or recording their end of life wishes.
• 73% of people understand that palliative care can be given alongside curative treatments.
• Of all the people that had a loved one experience palliative care, most had a positive experience (59%), 37% a mixed experience and only 3% described the experience as negative.
• 59% of respondents were not aware that children up to 18 years of age can also receive paediatric palliative care.