National Palliative Care Week (NPCW) will be held from Sunday 22 May – Saturday 28 May, with the theme “Palliative Care It’s your right”. NPCW hopes to spark important conversations in the community about the benefits of quality palliative care and celebrate the amazing dedication of all those working and volunteering in palliative care across Australia.

Recently LHA conducted research into the experiences of LGBTIQ+ communities and palliative care.

Here are some of our key findings:

• LGBTIQ+ people accessing palliative and end-of-life care experience discrimination both internationally and in Australia. Other factors that impact palliative care experiences include pre-existing mental illness, financial and housing precarity, discriminatory policies and systems, and lifelong minority stress.
• People who are LGBTIQ+ may delay or avoid seeking care due to fear of discrimination and previous stigmatising experiences with health care services. Little is known about LGBTIQ+ people who live at the intersections of multiple identities which may include disability, culture and ethnicity.

Learn more about palliative care

	Official Resources Palliative Care Australia has created resources to help you raise awareness of palliative care and advanced care planning in your workplace or organisation. Learn More
	Advanced Care Planning Does your community know about advanced care planning?  If someone you work with became seriously ill or was injured, would they trust that medical professionals know what care they want or who they nominate as their preferred decision-makers? Read More
	Webinar: LGBTIQ+ Palliative Care Join Hannah Morgan, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia's National Palliative Care Project Coordinator, to learn more about the barriers LGBTIQ+ people experience when they access palliative care services, and what skills and knowledge are required to create safe, respectful and inclusive practices for our communities. Watch Webinar