Dying Well - Grattan report

The Grattan Institute has published Dying Well, a report by Hal Swerissen and Stephen Duckett about how we die in Australia. According to the report, 70% of Australians would like to die at home, but only 14% actually do so.  About 50% die in hospital and a third in residential care. Dying in Australia is more institutionalised than most other countries and this is linked to medical and community attitudes as well as a lack of funding for home-based care.

The report recommends more public discussion, including an education campaign, about the limits of health care as death approaches and the need to focus on end-of-life care.  It also proposes the widespread adoption of advance care plans that ensure people’s desires for the end of life are met.  “The baby boomers are growing old and in the next 25 years the number of Australians who die each year will double,” Professor Swerissen says. “We need the courage to promote a national discussion about a subject that we might dislike but cannot avoid.”

You can also read Swerisson and Duckett's article in The Conversation, A Good death:  Australians need support to die at home.  It's a good summary of their full report.


Swerissen, H and Duckett, S., 2014, Dying Well. Grattan Institute ISBN: 978-1-925015-61-