Tasmania’s palliative care program cut: What it means for aged care nurses

On 1 July 2026, Tasmania’s Department of Health moved to end the Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care program statewide. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s Tasmanian Branch responded immediately, taking the matter to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission on the grounds that the decision was made without proper consultation with the nurses and staff who deliver the program day to day.

For nurses working in Tasmanian aged care, the industrial process matters less than what happens on the floor. CPCiAC existed because palliative and end of life care in residential aged care is genuinely demanding work, clinically and emotionally, and doesn’t fit neatly inside a standard shift. Removing a dedicated support structure doesn’t remove the need for that care. It just relocates who is expected to provide it, often without the training or backup that made the work manageable in the first place.

What CPCiAC actually did

The program funded specialist palliative care support embedded directly in aged care settings, giving facility-based nurses access to clinical consultation, structured training and hands-on assistance when a resident was approaching end of life. That mattered most in smaller regional facilities, where a single registered nurse might be the only clinical decision-maker on site overnight, with no specialist palliative colleague to call on.

Why the ANMF took this to the Commission

Under Tasmania’s public sector industrial framework, changes affecting how staff work, including the withdrawal of a clinical support program, generally require consultation before implementation, not after. The ANMF’s argument was procedural as much as substantive: staff were told the program was ending rather than consulted on how the transition should be managed. That distinction matters, because a rushed cessation with no handover plan is a very different proposition for frontline nurses than a phased withdrawal with clear escalation pathways in place.

What this means for you, practically

• Referral pathways for complex palliative cases may become less clear until a replacement model, if any, is confirmed.
• Facilities without in-house palliative expertise will lean more heavily on GP and community palliative care services, which have their own capacity constraints.
• Training that was previously built into the CPCiAC model won’t automatically continue, so ask your employer directly what replaces it.
• If you’re the only RN on a shift managing a resident at end of life, know your escalation options and don’t assume support that used to exist is still there.

Cutting a program doesn’t cut the clinical need behind it. It just moves the load onto whoever happens to be rostered on.

The verdict

The realistic read is that this leaves a genuine gap, at least in the short term, for nurses managing palliative residents in facilities that leaned on CPCiAC for training and backup. The more optimistic read is that the Industrial Commission process could force a better-consulted replacement model rather than a straight cut, and that pressure from the ANMF may extract commitments the initial announcement didn’t include. Which version plays out depends on how the Commission process resolves over the coming months, and it’s worth watching if you work in aged care palliative care in Tasmania.

If you’re a nurse currently providing palliative care in a Tasmanian aged care facility, ask your employer now what training and escalation support looks like without CPCiAC, don’t wait to find out mid-shift. If you’re a decision maker running a facility, this is a workforce risk worth planning for directly rather than assuming a replacement program will land in time. Community Health Connect works with both nurses navigating these changes and operators building the workforce plans around them.