The neglect of palliative care in the broader health policy agenda presents as an urgent health challenge for governments. Palliative care is not an optional extra -- it must be viewed as an integral core component of health care delivery and take place in any setting. Governments must invest in providing palliative care services as a core part of health care and not as an "add-on extra".

Catholic Health Australia's new publication, Pursuing Excellence in Palliative Care, aims to contribute to the revision of the National Palliative Care Strategy and calls for an adherence to fifteen principles that should be responded to by governments and service providers in order to deliver excellence in palliative care.

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