Australians are now living longer than they did a century ago. Improvements in public health and advances in medicine have increased life expectancy. Many people are now living through their seventies into their eighties and nineties. While once people died from infectious disease and accidents, we are now more likely to die from heart disease, stroke or cancer.

Our attitudes to death and dying are shaped by many things such as cultural perspectives of illness and the religious and spiritual beliefs of our family and community. As individuals and as a nation we have been affected by our experience of grief and loss through war, accident and disaster. Australia is also a geographically diverse country. Where we live - in the city, in rural or in remote areas - can influence how we live, what services are available and our local resources.  

The capacity of modern medicine to cure many diseases has also changed our attitude to sickness and illness. A century ago most people were cared for while sick at home and some died from these illnesses. Today most seriously ill people are treated in hospital. As a result fewer people in the community have direct experience of caring for those who are ill or dying.

Changes in employment patterns and mobility have changed our community structures. Social isolation is more common as people may no longer live near their family or have less time to develop social networks. At the same time there is a growing sense of an individual as a health consumer with the patient and family being an active contributor to health decisions and practices.

These influences have shaped the way we think about death and dying and how we organise care at the end of life. An article in the Medical Journal of Australia called The changing face of dying in Australia expands on many of these issues.

This page was created on 22 April 2008 and is due for review in April 2010