Palliative Care Australia (PCA) congratulates Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) on winning the 2022 Federal Election.

PCA welcomes the ALP's commitment to improving aged care and urges the Government to embed palliative care in its reform plans to ensure older Australians receive the care they need.

“Palliative Care Australia is looking forward to building a strong relationship with the new Government and working together to ensure high-quality palliative care for all Australians who need it,” says PCA CEO Camilla Rowland.

“Australia is at a crisis point with palliative care. Our older population is growing, and the demand for services is rising rapidly.

“We’re heartened by this Government’s promise to fix our aged care system. We know that high-quality palliative care is essential to ensuring that older people can live their lives as fully and as comfortably as possible, which is backed by the Aged Care Royal Commission.

“There are critical opportunities for palliative care to be integrated with the Government’s policy and investment commitments that ensure our older loved ones receive the respect, care and dignity they deserve.”

Investment is urgently needed to support the increasing demand for palliative care that surged during the COVID pandemic and is anticipated to continue growing. This investment should be provided across the settings of the hospitals, within the home, and residential aged care.

“The palliative care sector has been under-resourced and overstretched for many years now, forcing people to miss out on the care they need.

“The good news is we have the solutions laid out and ready to go in our Roadmap. We are excited about the opportunity to work constructively and in partnership with the Government to deliver on these solutions.”

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PCA Media Release - PCA congratulates Labor on its election victory 24 May 2022