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Our Research

Our research group develops and evaluates innovative service models to improve palliative care delivery across different healthcare settings and populations. These evidence-based approaches address gaps in care while ensuring timely access to specialized services.

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Our Research

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Advancing Equitable, Evidence-Based Palliative Care
 

At Palliative Nexus, we lead innovative, interdisciplinary research that transforms how palliative care is delivered, accessed, and experienced across Australia and beyond. Grounded in clinical practice and guided by strong partnerships with patients, families, communities, and health professionals, our research is designed to make a measurable impact.

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​We organise our work around four strategic research pillars:


Evolving Communities

We investigate the systemic barriers that prevent equitable care for people who are traditionally underserved, including:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

  • People in prison or experiencing homelessness

  • Culturally and linguistically diverse communities

  • Rural and regional populations

We develop and evaluate models of care that are community-led, culturally safe, and grounded in justice.
 

Service Models

We co-design and implement scalable models of care that improve access, coordination, and outcomes. This includes:

  • Early integration of palliative care (e.g. Care Plus)

  • Tools for triage, referral, and navigation (e.g. RUN-PC)

  • Decision support frameworks and workforce strategies

  • Embedding palliative care into non-cancer and chronic illness settings
     

Innovation in Palliative Care

We believe those with lived experience must shape the research agenda. Our work in this area includes:

  • Voices for Palliative Care: a consumer and carer co-research network

  • Frameworks for meaningful consumer involvement in service planning and policy

  • Storytelling, qualitative research, and yarning circles to capture and amplify diverse voices
     

Clinical Trials

Symptom management and pharmacological trials

Integration of palliative care into cancer trials

Translation of findings into clinical guidelines and health system policy
 

 

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Key Achievements

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Care Plus Implementation: Delivered integrated early palliative care to hundreds of patients across multiple cancer services, with a scalable implementation package now in use across Victoria and South Australia.
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RUN-PC Triage Tool: Co-developed and validated a national triage tool to guide timely access to specialist palliative care, now being adopted across services and supported through targeted training.

 

First Nations Cancer Coordinator: In partnership with WCMICS, we co-designed Victoria’s first culturally embedded First Nations Cancer Coordinator role—shaping new models for cancer equity and culturally safe care.

 

Palliative Care in Prisons: Our research has helped uncover critical service gaps and ethical challenges in delivering end-of-life care to people in custody, leading to national advocacy to end hospital-based shackling.

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