Australia’s population is ageing and with this trend comes the burden and complexity of increasing physical illness and disability. This burden escalates as a person nears death and as a consequence, the cost of care becomes disproportionately high in the last year of life. Currently, end-of-life (EOL) care is relatively siloed and people are often...

The goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life of patients with an active, progressive disease that has little or no prospect of a cure. With the growth and ageing of Australia's population, and an increase of chronic and generally incurable illnesses, the types of patient groups requiring palliative care has widened...

Several myths undermine the broader benefits that good palliative care can provide for patients.

The aims of this study are to estimate the incidence and duration of futile treatment in end-of-life hospital admissions and to assign a monetary value to the hospital bed days that were used.

This NSW Auditor-General audit report finds that there is no overall policy framework for palliative and end-of-life care in the state, nor is there comprehensive monitoring and reporting on services and outcomes.