Palliative Care in Prisons

Overview

Australian Correctional/Justice Health Services increasingly need to provide palliative and end-of-life care to people in prisons. Older people now account for nearly half of the prison population. They are more likely to suffer from complex comorbidities associated with their lifestyle risk behaviours. Any discussion about palliative care in prisons must include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and perspectives, respecting the right to culturally safe care. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have long been over-represented in Australian prisons. They are also disproportionately represented in deaths in custody.

The Palliative Care in Prisons Project aims to improve access to best evidence-based, culturally-safe, high-quality palliative and end-of-life care for people in prisons, through the collaborative co-design of a new National Framework for the Provision of Palliative Care in Australian Prisons.

Palliative Care in Prisons Project

Development of the National Framework

The findings from the Co-Design workshop (712kb pdf) held in Sydney in 2023 highlighted three main directions and 13 National Palliative Care Capacity-building recommendations which were endorsed at a second co-design workshop (753kb pdf) in Brisbane in 2024. The agreed directions were:

Multi-mode interactive education that champions palliative care excellence
Strengthening links with local specialist palliative care teams
Foster national correctional services and justice health collaborations.

The workshop and project activities have identified a range of resources and materials that can support awareness and build capacity in the sector.

Resources

Project Newsletters

Community of Practice Team Recordings

A Community of Practice met to discuss a range of different topics. These are listed below. If you are interested in viewing the videos, you will need to contact the project PIP team for access details. Email: pip.project@qut.edu.au

Voluntary Assisted Death and Implications for Australian Prisons
22nd February 2024 -Presenters: Penny Neller & Dr Andrew Wiley
Providing Culturally Safe Palliative Care in Prison: Is This Possible?
6th June 2024 – Presenters: Dr Christine Sanderson, Professor Megan Williams & Cheryl Porter
Pain Management in Prison
25th July 2024 – Presenters: Dr Emma Burns, Belinda Hirschbichler, Professor Nick Lintzeris & Dr Mica Spasojevic
In Reach Models of Palliative Care for People in Prison – The WA experience
28th August 2024 – Presenters: Dr Fermín Blanco Mayo & Dr Paula Moffat
Anxiety and depression in the context of palliative care in prisons
10th October 2024 -Presenters: Professor Andrew Teodorczuk, Cindy Stoupas & Dr Andrew Watt
Establishing interdisciplinary palliative care in prisons
21st November 2024 – Presenters: Hannah Bodrozic, Catherine Mcloughlin, Alice Finch, Amy Haughey & Mark Thorsby
Palliative Care in Prisons – Victorian model
5th March 2025 – Presenters: Dr Tamsin Bryan
SPICT 4 All tools and its application within UK prisons
24 November 2025 -Presenters: Maria O’Neill
Advanced Care Planning in Prisons
29th April 2026 – Presenters: Kylie Ash
Grief and Bereavement
7th May 2026 – Presenters: Dr Paula Moffat, Prof Liz Lobb, Mark Thorsby

Palliative Care Resources

The following palliative care resources have been identified as valuable for supporting care.

SPICT 4-ALL
People who are living with life shortening conditions often miss out on well planned care and support because they are not offered the right help soon enough. SPICT 4-ALL helps to identify changes and communicate needs. Staff caring for people in prison with life shortening conditions have developed a special version – SPICT-4ALL in Prisons.
NAT:PD (99kb pdf)
The Needs Assessment Tool: Progressive Disease (NAT: PD) can assist in matching the types and levels of need experienced by people with progressive chronic diseases (eg cancer, heart failure, COPD). In generalist settings it can be used to determine which needs may be met in that setting and which needs are be more complex and may be better managed by specialists.
National Framework coming soon
Advance Care Planning
Advance care planning is the process of planning for a person’s current and future health care. It involves talking about values, beliefs and preferences with your decision makers and doctors. This helps them to respect your choices about your care when you can’t. Staff members can access free online learning in advance care planning through Advance Care Planning Australia.

Education Resources

Education is an important way to build workforce capability. The following palliative care education options are particularly relevant.

PEPA
PEPA provides opportunities for all health professionals to develop capabilities in providing a palliative approach to care through participation in placements, workshops and a range of learning resource.
IPEPA
IPEPA is a grassroots approach to breaking down the barriers to palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Pallibytes
PalliBytes Microlearning provides short, practical learning for palliative care.

Research and Evidence

There is an emerging body of evidence that supports palliative care in prisons.

Review collection – Prisoners
This is a collection of systematic reviews providing evidence on various considerations relating to palliative care and prisoners.
Quick Search – Prisoners
You can run a tailored PubMed search for studies looking at palliative care and prisoners. Select the Specific Needs option and then click on prisoners in the drop down list.

Last updated 25 June 2026