Sector news

Entries are now open for the Live Well, Die Well Art Prize 2025, presented by Palliative Care Australia and supported by Arcare. This national art prize invites Australians of all backgrounds and skill levels to explore the theme Conversations About End-of-Life through visual art. Eligible submissions include any artwork that can be displayed on an easel — from paintings and photography to drawings, sketches, and other canvas-based works. Entries are open until Sunday 14 July 2025. Finalists will be exhibited at the 25OPCC in Brisbane, and all entries will be featured in an online gallery. Categories include:

• General
• First Nations artist
• Artist living with a disability
• Emerging artist
• Primary & secondary students
• People’s Choice – all entries are displayed in a digital gallery for public voting at no extra cost

During National Palliative Care Week, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) launched a new national training program to equip pharmacists with the knowledge, skills, and compassion needed to support people receiving palliative and end-of-life care wherever they are.

The ASPIRE Palliative Care Foundation Training Program for Pharmacists is a free, eight-module CPD-accredited course for pharmacists working in all areas of practice. It is supported by Palliative Care Australia and developed with support from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the National Palliative Care Grants Program.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Palliative Care Association Inc. (NATSIPCA) is a national, community-controlled, not-for-profit, member-based organisation dedicated to advocating and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in accessing Comfort Care on their terms - How, When, and Where they choose. The Comfort Care approach is informed and grounded by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing and are being progressed by NATSIPCA, for end-of-life or Comfort Care Journeys.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released an update to its Palliative Care Services in Australia web report to include the latest data from a range of sources.

2025 marks 30 years of National Palliative Care Week. In 2025, NPCW runs from Sunday 11 May to Saturday 17 May with the theme ‘What’s your plan?” This question is purposeful:

• For individuals and families – it challenges them to think about their own future and quality of life, make informed choices, and decide how they want to be cared for.
• For the health and care sectors – it prompts reflection on capacity, innovation, and readiness to meet growing demand in a community that feels empowered by end of life planning.
• For government – it calls for accountability, opening an opportunity to discuss policy, investment, and strategy, and addressing the future palliative care needs of our community.

The latest life expectancy data from the ABS shows that girls born in 2021-2023 could expect to live to 85.1 years. The AIHW’s Australian Burden of Disease Study measures the impact of diseases and injuries on a population. It combines the years of healthy life lost due to living with ill health (non-fatal burden), with the years of life lost due to dying prematurely.