National Palliative Care Week 2025 - What's Your Plan?
National Palliative Care Week 2025 - What's Your Plan?
Friday, February 21, 2025
Every day in Australia, 400 people of all ages die of a terminal illness. Every one of them could benefit from palliative care – care that is their human right, care that can enrich their final days, and care that too many people still miss out on.
With the support of the the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, National Palliative Care Week (NPCW) opens conversations, raises awareness, and advocates for better access to and acceptance of palliative care.
In 2025, led by Palliative Care Australia and our members around Australia, NPCW celebrates 30 years by asking a simple yet powerful question: “What’s your plan?” It’s a direct approach to Australians and their loved ones to talk about what matters most at the end of life and to make a plan that empowers and respects their choices during the last years, months, and days of life.
Why does this conversation matters even more now?
Death still remains a difficult subject for people to talk about, that’s natural and human. Death is also often considered to be a taboo. The reluctance, and lack of awareness and engagement contributes to a widespread misunderstanding of what palliative care is and what it can offer.
NPCW 2025 is about changing that. It provides an opportunity to start those conversations, break down taboos, dispel myths, and empower the life and choices that need to be considered with terminal illness and ageing.
Thank you for your interest and support – let’s get going! Below you will find a host of information to support your own understanding of palliative care and a range of ideas and resources that will enable you to get involved in National Palliative Care Week 2025.
National events
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Your local events
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Advice for you
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Other advice, tools and support
- Understanding self-care
- Planning for self-care
- Self-Care Matters campaign resources – a Palliative Care Australia resource, which aims to support you – whatever your role in palliative care – to prevent burnout and build resilience
- Self-care for volunteers working in paediatric palliative care
- Self-care for health professionals working in paediatric palliative care
- Questions for carers to ask the team caring for your loved one
- The Essence of Spiritual Care: A learning module for health care workers
- End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) Toolkits – designed to help you in providing palliative care and advance care planning to older Australians
- Department of Health and Aged Care – palliative care education and training opportunities for anyone who works in primary care and aged care
- National Palliative Care Standards for Specialist Palliative Care Services
- National Palliative Care Standards for All Health Professionals and Aged Care Services
- CareSearch Health Professionals Centre – providing trustworthy and practical resources that are relevant to your practice
- End-of-Life Essentials: free education modules and resources
- Palliative Care Online Short Courses, Flinders University
- LGBTIQ+ Health Australia – LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Palliative Care eLearning
- End of Life Law for Clinicians – online training modules
- Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates (PCC4U) – Free education modules and resources for the University and VET Sectors
- Palliative Care Education Directory – PaCE web app
- Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) – free health placements in palliative care services and palliative approach workshops
- Paediatric End-of-Life Care Communication Course
- Education for Teachers in Schools about Paediatric Palliative Care
- Oceanic Palliative Care Conference Education Hub
- ‘Live the live you please’ documentary
- Free PCA Resource Library
- Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia – Guiding Principles for those providing care to people living with a life-limiting illness
- Overview of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia by End of Life Directions in Aged Care (ELDAC).
- Navigating the topic of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Advance Care Planning Conversations: Guiding principles for health professionals
- PCA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples palliative care resources
- Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet: Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care
- caring@home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families
- Gwandalan palliative care education and training
- End of Life Law for Clinicians online module – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and end of life law
- ‘Working out what’s right for your child’ – Discussion Starter Cards and Yarning Companion resources for paediatric palliative care
- Free PCA Resource Library
- Palliative care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender People and People with Intersex Characteristics (LGBTI) Position Statement
- Palliative Care Victoria: palliative care for members of the Australian LGBTQIA+ multicultural and multifaith community
- LGBTIQ+ Health Australia – LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Palliative Care eLearning
- End of Life Law for Clinicians online module – Inclusive end of life decision-making with diverse populations
- Palliative care NSW – Homelessness and Palliative Care Report
- Department of Health and Aged Care – Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care – Issues Report on People Experiencing Homelessness
- CareSearch: palliative care issues for people experiencing homelessness
- Palliative Care Australia – Providing palliative care for people who are homeless; attempting to break down barriers
- Homeless Palliative Care Toolkit
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Quick links to more info
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Join the conversation
What does it take to ensure Territorians can access the palliative care they need, including at home?
Sarah Begley, Deputy Chair of Palliative Care Australia’s Board, joined Katie Woolf on Mix 104.9 ‘360 earlier this week to shine a light on palliative care in the Northern Territory and the dedicated community palliative care nurses supporting people and families across vast distances.
Sarah spoke about the significant pressures facing these services and the need for greater investment in community palliative care, support for remote communities and sustainable funding for Palliative Care NT.
At the core of the conversation was the idea that palliative care is about “living until you die”, helping people live well and do what matters to them, right through to the end of life.
🎧 Listen to Sarah’s conversation with Katie Woolf: https://ihr.fm/4xyFXwd
iHeartRadio
#PalliativeCareNorthernTerritory #PalliativeCare #NorthernTerritory #EndOfLifeCare #Mix1049
How can Men’s Sheds support men through end-of-life experiences?
The Good Death Impact Network and The Care Lab at UNSW are hosting a hybrid seminar exploring the role Men’s Sheds can play in supporting men experiencing dying, caring and bereavement.
Presented by Dr John MacArtney, Associate Professor at Warwick Medical School, the session will draw on research into hospice Men’s Sheds in the UK and explore how these groups can help reduce loneliness, provide peer and emotional support, and connect men with other forms of support.
📅 Tuesday 8 September, 2-3pm
📍 UNSW Sydney + online via Teams
Find out more and register: https://bit.ly/4haM57W
#PalliativeCare #EndOfLifeCare #MensSheds #Bereavement #GriefSupport
Help shape palliative care for children and young people with cancer.
Researchers at UNSW Sydney are seeking experienced health professionals working in oncology, haematology, palliative care and related disciplines to participate in a national e-Delphi study.
The study will help develop an evidence-informed Model of Care to support the earlier and more consistent integration of palliative care alongside cancer treatment for children, adolescents and young adults in Australia.
📅 Round 1 closes Friday 11 September 2026.
Find out more and participate: https://app2.welphi.com//Pages/RedirectPage.aspx?vHhTTzhYnpZU7ug2RHWySCzwWM5bt8RvkMhQtTGgjMU=
#PalliativeCare #CancerCare #HealthResearch
PCA was delighted to host CEOs of the Palliative Care State and Territory organisations this week for a productive strategic planning meeting.
The visit included a tour of Palliative Care ACT’s Leo’s Place respite care facility, and a positive meeting with Jo Mond, from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s Cancer, Organ Donation and Palliative Care branch.
Palliative Care Victoria | Palliative Care Tasmania | Palliative Care South Australia | Palliative Care WA | Palliative Care Queensland Inc. | Palliative Care NSW
Thank you for sharing your Support at Home experiences. 🧡
In June, we invited people to share their experiences of accessing, or trying to access, the Support at Home End-of-Life Pathway.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences with us. We know these experiences can be deeply personal, and we greatly appreciate your openness and willingness to contribute to our advocacy.
Your experiences helped inform PCA’s submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Support at Home program, strengthening our advocacy for better access to palliative and end-of-life care for older Australians, their families and carers.
#PalliativeCare #EndOfLifeCare #SupportAtHome #AgedCare
🧡 The Orange Heart is supporting compassionate end-of-life care across Gippsland – and attracting interest from health services around Australia.
The Gippsland Region Palliative Care Consortium (GRPCC) has implemented the Orange Heart as a door sign to discreetly signify that a patient is in their final days of life, helping ensure interactions are guided by sensitivity, respect and compassion.
The Consortium has also developed an implementation package to support health services to use the sign consistently. The Orange Heart has now been implemented in 10 health services across Victoria.
The initiative was presented at the Palliative Care Nurses Australia Inc. Conference in June, where GRPCC Manager Anny Byrne received Best Oral Presentation in the Acute Care Session. Since then, the implementation package has been shared with a further nine health services across multiple states, reflecting growing interest beyond Victoria.
Congratulations to Anny and the GRPCC team on the growing reach of the Orange Heart. We’re pleased to share their work in collaboration with Palliative Care Victoria.🧡
#PalliativeCare #EndOfLifeCare #OrangeHeart
