15NRHC Recommendation - 03/26/2019 - 15:31

All Australians have a human right to high quality palliative care. Following the release of the National Palliative Care Strategy (2018) there needs to be a commitment and investment in ensuring Australians living in rural and remote locations can remain on country for the majority of their care if this is what they choose. This must enable palliative care provision concurrently with disease-modifying therapies, in response to changing needs of people living with a life-limiting illness and their families and communities. This will require innovative models of specialist palliative care delivery such as the use of telehealth and ‘pop up’ services, access to medicines collaborations involving community pharmacy to safely provide opioids and other medicines, the planning and development of culturally safe and culturally aware services, and community mobilisation to start discussions about ‘what matters most’ at the end of life and provide additional support to individuals and families who are receiving palliative care.