Specialist palliative care overview

The Victorian Government’s end of life and palliative care framework summarises specialist palliative care as:

• A designated sector “funded to provide care for those with the most complex end of life and palliative care needs” (p5).

The framework also notes:

• “Often the most valuable role palliative care specialists play is supporting other healthcare teams and professionals through consultation, advice and support to provide end of life care to their patients” (p5).

The types of specialist palliative care services included in this NW Metro Specialist Palliative Care Services Quickguide are:

• Community palliative care
• Palliative care wards/units/hospice of public hospitals
• Palliative care consultancy of metropolitan public hospitals
• Outpatient clinics with a palliative care focus
• Day hospices
• Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program
• Palliative Care Consortia

In this guide, we have not attempted to include detailed information about referral criteria or models of care for each service. Rather, you are encouraged to check the websites listed for further information and phone to discuss referral and service delivery issues.

The Quickguide also includes links to:

• Palliative Care Victoria and other Victorian service contacts;
• State/Territory palliative care peak bodies and government departments;
• Palliative Care Australia and national palliative care initiatives
• Clinical resources, training and education on topics such as grief and bereavement, medicinal cannabis, disease specific support organisations, opiod conversions, paediatric palliative care and communications skills training.

• Aged care and palliative care;
• Advance care planning and conversations about dying and death.

If you are someone living with a life-limiting illness, or caring for someone with a life-limiting illness, other useful sources of information include Palliative Care Victoria and the end of life and palliative care section of the Victorian Government’s Better Health Channel. We have also included links to various Carer Resources within the resources section of our website.

If you are seeking information about services in Victoria in areas other than NW Metro Melbourne, we suggest you consult Palliative Care Victoria’s Service Provider Search. For services outside Victoria, we suggest Palliative Care Australia’s Directory of Services.

We welcome your feedback on the Services Quickguide and other areas of our website, including enhancements you’d like us to consider. Email your feedback to  or use our website feedback form.