Australians Deserve a National End-of-Life Planning Framework — No More Families Left in Chaos

Most Australians think they’ll “get around to planning one day.”
But for thousands of families every year, one day never comes — and when crisis hits, they are left navigating heartbreaking decisions with no information, no guidance and no support.

I’m starting this petition because I have lived that chaos — twice.

My Story

 

 

 

 

In 2019, I survived a serious car accident on my way to work. Overnight, I went from being the person who organised everything in my household to the person suddenly needing care.
There was no roadmap. No continuity. No clear guidance for my family.

Then in 2023, a close friend died unexpectedly.
He had a will — but no documented wishes, no plans, no instructions.
I watched his adult children struggle through preventable, devastating trauma simply because the information they needed wasn’t written down.

These experiences revealed a national truth:

Australians don’t avoid planning because they don’t care — they avoid it because they’ve never been taught how, and our systems make it nearly impossible.

And my story is not unique.
It is the story of thousands of Australian families every year.

 

 

 

REFORM ONE: Teach Death Literacy in Schools
Young people already face death, illness and grief — yet Australian schools teach none of the practical skills they need to understand or cope with these realities.

By age 15:
• 50% will have lost a grandparent
• 1 in 20 will lose a parent

Yet students are taught nothing about:
• grief, emotional literacy and coping
• how to talk about death safely
• basic planning principles (choices, rights, consent)
• cultural differences in death and bereavement
• what happens when someone dies
• how families make decisions in a crisis

We prepare children for road safety, cyber safety, consent and first aid — but not the one universal life event every Australian will face.

Adding age-appropriate death, grief and planning literacy to Years 7–10 in the Australian Curriculum would give young people lifelong skills to communicate, cope, plan ahead and support each other.

This is not morbid.
This is essential life education.

 
REFORM TWO: Create Nationally Consistent Estate & End-of-Life Planning Laws
Right now, Australia has eight different legal systems for:
• Wills
• Powers of Attorney
• Guardianship
• Advance Care Directives

This inconsistency creates confusion, delays and preventable conflict — especially when families are grieving. Executors can spend 300+ hours on after-death tasks. Many families make rushed decisions simply because they don’t know their loved one’s wishes.

A national, unified framework would:
• make planning clear and accessible
• reduce conflict and administrative burden
• support our 3 million unpaid carers
• improve emergency decision-making
• ease pressure on hospitals and aged care
• protect families across state borders

A national framework does not replace state laws — it brings them into alignment so every Australian knows what to expect, no matter where they live.

It is common sense, achievable, and long overdue.

 
Why This Matters Now
Death, dying and bereavement affect every sector:
health, aged care, disability, mental health, education, workplaces, insurance and justice.
Yet Australia has no coordinated national approach to help people prepare.

This lack of preparation leads to:
• low planning rates
• confusion about legal processes
• poor family communication
• gaps in school education
• overwhelmed workplaces
• high administrative burden across services

We also know:
• 20–30% of bereaved people experience worsening health
• 10% develop Prolonged Grief Disorder
• Workplaces must manage death-related psychosocial risks under national safety laws

These impacts touch every family, every classroom, every workplace and every community.

We cannot keep leaving Australians unprepared.

 
This Is Personal — and Preventable
We are not the experts in every part of this system — but we have lived it.
We have felt the overwhelm, the confusion and the heartbreak of trying to navigate end-of-life decisions, legal processes and after-death administration inside a system that is siloed, fractured and impossible to understand when you are grieving.

There is no continuity of care.
Every organisation has its own rules.
Every state has its own laws.

Families are left to piece everything together at the worst moment of their lives.

Most people only learn about death literacy and planning when crisis forces them to — when someone becomes ill, when an accident happens, when a loved one dies.
By then, it is already too late.

We need clear education.
We need consistent laws.
We need a national approach — so no family ever experiences what we did.

 
We Call on the Australian Government To:
✔ Adopt a National Death Literacy Strategy
✔ Teach death, grief and planning literacy in the Australian Curriculum
✔ Create nationally consistent estate and end-of-life planning laws
✔ Mandate coordination across health, aged care, disability, education, legal and community systems
✔ Reduce crisis-driven decisions and preventable trauma for families

Australia now has the opportunity to lead the world with a compassionate, whole-of-life approach to death literacy and preparedness — improving wellbeing, reducing system strain and strengthening communities.

 
Sign This Petition to Give Every Australian a Backup Plan
No family should be left unprepared.
No child should face death without support.
No carer should carry the burden alone.
No one should navigate grief and legal complexity without guidance.

Please sign — and please share.

Together, we can create a safer, kinder and better-prepared Australia.