Religious community to demand palliative care funding, protest Voluntary Assisted Dying laws

Hundreds of hospitals and aged care services are mobilising a campaign within the religious community to lobby Annastacia Palaszczuk over ‘underfunded’ palliative care.

A network of hundreds of hospitals and aged care services are mobilising the religious community to write directly to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to demand action over Queensland‘s “vastly underfunded” palliative care services.

The two-fold campaign calls for “properly resourced” palliative and end-of-life services while taking a stand against Voluntary Assisted Dying laws due to be debated and voted on in September.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is being targeted in a religious letter-writing campaign calling for more palliative care funding, and protesting VAD laws. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

Catholic Health Australia, which represents hospitals such as St Vincent‘s Health, Mater, St Vincent de Paul Society, OzCare and Southern Cross Care, have this weekend taken out advertising in a multitude of languages, are ramping up a social media campaign and have launched a campaign website.

The website contains a pre-written letter to Ms Palaszczuk and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli complaining that people will not have a real “choice” between palliative care and voluntary assisted dying while end-of-life care is so woefully underfunded.

“As leaders of our state we ask you to listen to us on Voluntary Assisted Dying,” it reads.

“Terminally-ill Queenslanders deserve the support of a properly resourced palliative and end of life care system so that they are able to lead as full a life as possible to the end.”

Health care experts say Queensland’s palliative care sector is woefully underfunded.

It argues that assisted dying laws would put vulnerable members of the community “at significant risk of coercion” and asks that if the laws do go ahead, there be a genuine opt-out scheme for institutions on the ground of conscientious objection.

Catholic Health Australia’s Mission Director Jessica Burdick Davies said there was a better option than voluntary assisted dying.

“Instead of forcing vulnerable people to choose between pain and death, our politicians could provide funding for modern palliative care,” she said.

“Most Queenslanders can't access proper palliative care, but it should be available to everyone before we offer the option of suicide.”

The new campaign comes just a week after heads of Catholic Health Australia, Mater Group, St Vincent’s Health Australia and Palliative Care Queensland wrote to every state MP to call for an extra $275 million a year in funding for palliative care in a separate campaign that pushes the importance of palliative care independent of moves to adopt VAD laws.

The amount – calculated by palliative care experts working in the field – is far higher than the $171 million over six years the Palaszczuk Government has pledged so far to improve the sector.