This report calls for an overhaul of the palliative care system in Australia, suggesting that an additional annual investment of $365 million to bring the system up to speed in a post COVID-19 world.

The report also calls for a national agreement on palliative care between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, and a new full-time Palliative Care Commissioner, to help create the best experience possible for those with life-limiting conditions and those around them.

The report, commissioned with the assistance of the Snow Foundation by Palliative Care Australia and prepared by KPMG, finds that if people can be supported with palliative care outside of institutional settings, they can live well and die in a place of their choosing, for example, at home. In practice however, very few Australians are achieving this.