End-of-Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) is a National Palliative Care Project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care since 2017. ELDAC is administered by a consortium of three universities: Queensland University of Technology, Flinders University of South Australia, and University of Technology Sydney; and four national agencies: Palliative Care Australia, Aged & Community Care Providers Australia, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and Catholic Health Australia.

The key objectives of ELDAC are to:

• Provide specialist palliative care and advance care planning (ACP) advice to aged care providers and GPs providing health care for aged care service recipients;
• Improve linkages between aged care and palliative care services;
• Improve the palliative care skills and ACP expertise of aged care staff and GPs providing health care for aged care service recipients; and,
• Improve the quality of care for aged care recipients, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and shorten hospital stays.

Building on achievements of previous funding cycles, the ELDAC consortium continues to implement and advance an innovative multi-level, technology-enabled solution that enables implementation of integrated individual, service and sector development strategies and build national capacity in the palliative, primary and aged care sectors.
The three integrated work streams of ELDAC include:

• Knowledge Hub – to empower, inform and build capacity in aged care and primary care providers by providing access to evidence-based palliative care and ACP information, including eight toolkits, responsive to aged care sector reforms
• Workforce development – to promote access to relevant existing educational activities, facilitate implementation of the toolkits and deliver education and training activities/resources that complement existing programs
• Sector development – to facilitate and increase linkages between aged, palliative and primary care services by building local service networks.

Our approach acknowledges the need for both enhanced individual, organisational and sector capabilities to meet consumer need and an integrated and effective evidence-base strategies for care provision at individual and service levels.