Chief Executive Officer, Palliative Care Australia

As the Australian population ages and as innovations in health care lead to longer lives, palliative care – care that helps people live as fully and as comfortably as possible when living with a life-limiting or terminal illness  – is achieving more prominence and arousing greater passion.

The inclusion of end-of-life issues in current health reform debates and the forthcoming Royal Commission into Aged Care offer PCA’s new CEO the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the shape of health care in Australia.

The Board of Palliative Care Australia invites applications from experienced candidates with a strong background in public affairs and advocacy and a commitment to promoting palliative care as a human right for all Australians.

Current challenges include:

Voluntary assisted dying
The introduction of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legislation in Victoria has challenged the palliative care community to examine the connections between VAD and palliative care.

Definition of ‘palliative care’
The WHO/PCA definition of palliative care doesn’t necessary accord with the layperson’s and public policy maker’s definition, so PCA needs to ensure its communications constantly reinforce its desired definition.

Consumer-directed care
PCA needs to balance an emphasis on increased access to care with an emphasis on an increased range of care options.

Staffing
Increasing the number of palliative care specialists across all health professions requires champions, and this will likely take a decade to properly cultivate.

State vs national
While the Australian Government contributes to the funding of end-of-life care in hospitals (including via payments to State and Territory Governments for public hospitals), in aged care (including palliative care via the Aged Care Funding Instrument), for people with disabilities, and for primary care provided by general practitioners, State and Territory Governments are responsible for, and in many cases provide funding for, end-of-life care in public hospitals and community health services, including specialist palliative care services.

Royal Commission into Aged Care
The Royal Commission is an important opportunity to develop an integrated approach to palliative care within an aged care context.

Core funding
The new CEO will need to work with the Department of Health to secure the next tranche of peak-body funding, and apply in a competitive process for the next round of projects in 2019-2020.