Jean Kittson election poster now available for notice boards
02 Apr 2025
Australia will go to the polls on Saturday, 3 May - help us make access to palliative care an election issue by downloading and printing our Jean Kittson poster for your local notice boards.
"In the last four months, over 40,000 people have signed our 'Better access to palliative care' Change.org petition. Most of those signatures have come through promotion and shout outs via social media and eNewsletters, this new poster takes our message to local streets, workplaces and community centres, and gives more people a chance to show their support," says Ian Campbell, National Communications Director, Palliative Care Australia (PCA).
Much loved Australian performer and author, Jean Kittson, has been the public face and voice leading the campaign, sharing her own heartache and trauma surrounding the death of her beloved parents, Elaine (99yrs) and Roy (96yrs), in early 2024.
"Thousands of people have connected with Jean's experience, but we have also had feedback, that some people working within the health and care sectors have been nervous about signing the petition, concerned about breaching the conditions of their employment," Mr Campbell says.
"Those concerns are natural and understandable, and everyone has the right to choose, but we want to reassure those who want to sign but have been worried about doing so, that you are in good company - many of the 40,000 signatures we have received come from other clinicians and carers working in the system.
"We are hoping that seeing this poster on notice boards and in tea rooms within health and care facilities might give more staff confidence to sign."
The response to the petition so far has helped to amplifier the need PCA and our members have identified. PCA CEO, Camilla Rowland met with Assistant Health and Aged Care Minister, Ged Kearney and her opposition counterpart, Senator Anne Ruston last week to present an update on the petition and talk through the next steps of health and care reforms.
"The voice of those working and volunteering in the sector is a really powerful part of our advocacy, people can choose to sign the petition anonymously or use a private email address rather then a work email address - our sector is highly respected and the tone of the campaign and our advocacy reflects and honours that," Mr Campbell says.
"We are hoping this printable poster will allow even more people to show their support and share their story. People just need to scan the QR code with the camera on their phone to be taken through to the petition."
The petition forms part of PCA's advocacy leading up to the Federal Election, central to the campaign is PCA’s 2025 Federal Election Platform which is built on a foundation of four pillars:
- Better access to palliative care through primary care
- Better access to critical palliative care medicines
- Better access to palliative care through aged care
- Better access to palliative care for people under 65
The actions outlined in the platform by PCA and our members work within and strengthen existing health and care structures. The full platform is available HERE.
