By: Mark Parton
The Canberra Liberals will move a Motion in the Assembly to advocate for dying Canberrans to continue to have access to practical, non-clinical palliative care and support at home, after ACT Labor cut funding to the Community Options Palliative Care Program.
Leader of the Canberra Liberals Mark Parton said ACT Labor has left vulnerable Canberrans facing uncertainty at the time they and their families needed support the most.
“Palliative care is about dignity, choice and being able to spend your final days in the place you call home,” Mr Parton said.
“For years, Community Options has provided practical, non-clinical support to people with life-limiting illness and their families, helping them navigate the system and, critically, helping them remain safety at home.”
“Labor has now withdrawn the funding that enabled this practical support to be delivered.”
Brendan Taber, CEO of Community Options, said “The ACT Government says it is working with Community Options to transition the Palliative Care Program. However, what is being transitioned is case management and navigation, not the flexible funding needed to deliver rapid, practical support in people’s homes,” Mr Taber said.
Without funding, any new provider will face the same constraints. Dying Canberrans do not need to be assessed and navigated to nowhere; they need timely, flexible support to remain safely at home and have their wish to die at home respected.”
Mr Parton said the issue went beyond the future of a single organisation.
“The Government has already undertaken a review of palliative care in the ACT which identified fragmentation and gaps in community-based services. Three years on, we should be seeing those gaps closed, not seeing an established community service lose the funding it needs to operate.”
The Canberra Liberals Motion will call on Dr Marisa Paterson MLA, the new Health Minister, to take immediate steps to ensure there is ongoing access to a dedicated non-clinical, community-based palliative care service, with sustainable funding arrangements, and to undertake an implementation and adequacy review of palliative care services across the ACT.
The Motion will be debated in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, 22 September.