Palliative care is a well-established set of supports and care for people at the end of their lives. Its goal is to provide comfort care, rather than curative intervention, at a time when there is no prospect of recovery or cure.
For Aboriginal people in South Australia at the end of their life, palliative care services are available, but use is not necessarily at the levels expected. 

 

South Australia Aboriginal patients generally present with multiple co-morbidities, cultural and social complexities and referrals to Palliative Care often late resulting in Palliative Care services having limited ability  to adequately respond. 

Central Adelaide Palliative Care Service (CAPCS) developed a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pathway to Palliative Care to address unmet Palliative Care needs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and facilitate a meaning voice for Aboriginal people in the development and implementation of a new Palliative Care model or pathway. 

 The National Palliative Care Australia Road Map 2022-2027 drives the vision and goals of the National Palliative Care Strategy 2018. At state level, there is a commitment from Palliative Care peak bodies to enact a person-centred focus at the level of service provision through approaches that are flexible, responsive and acknowledge the sociocultural context in which the patient lives. The SA Approach to Aboriginal Comfort Care project sought to develop a South Australian culturally responsive model to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with a life-limiting disease, ensuring equitable access and quality end of life care.