Palliative care: What’s your plan?
Confronting death isn’t easy, but avoiding the issue is not the answer.
As National Palliative Care Week (NPCW) marks its 30th anniversary in 2025, Australians are being encouraged to confront one of life’s most difficult but important questions: What’s your plan?
NPCW runs from 11–17 May and is led by Palliative Care Australia (PCA), which is inviting individuals, families, and communities to talk openly about palliative care and end-of-life planning.
It’s a conversation many of us avoid, but one that could make all the difference to how we live our final years, months, and days.
“Death remains a difficult subject for people to talk about,” says Camilla Rowland, chief executive of PCA.
“That’s natural and human. But when we avoid these conversations, we miss the chance to make informed choices about our care and how we want to live until the end.”
Palliative care is not just about dying. It’s about improving quality of life – managing pain, emotional distress, and spiritual needs – for people living with a terminal illness.
Every day, about 400 Australians die from terminal illnesses. Many of them could benefit from palliative care, yet myths and misunderstandings persist.
The 2025 NPCW theme, What’s your plan?, aims to change that by challenging Australians to reflect on their own end-of-life wishes.
For individuals and families, it’s a prompt to start important conversations and make practical plans. For healthcare providers, it’s a call to innovate and prepare for a growing demand. And for governments, it’s a chance to invest in services that support people through one of life’s most vulnerable stages.
Last year’s NPCW campaign reached more than two million people, sparking national dialogue about life, death, and everything in between.
This year builds on that momentum, with events in each state along with the National Palliative Care Week Lecture on 8 May and a heartwarming Palliative Care Story Exchange on 16 May.
The message is: planning for the end isn’t about giving up, it’s about taking control, showing care, and living with dignity.
For more details, visit the NPCW website.
