Keynote Speakers

Professor Samar Aoun AM

Prof Samar Aoun AM is Perron Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care at the University of Western Australia and Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science; Chair of Compassionate Communities Australia and past chair of South West Compassionate Communities Network, of MND Australia and MND Association of Western Australia (MNDAWA).

Prof Aoun is an international leader in the promotion and advocacy of public health approaches to palliative care and led this approach for those living with grief and bereavement. Her research programs on supporting family carers at end of life and the public health approach to bereavement care have informed policy and practice at the national and international levels.

Her vision is that every person, every family and every community knows what to do when someone is caring, dying or grieving.

Samar led the Compassionate Connector Program which offers the practical and social support needed by families with life limiting illnesses. The program significantly improved social connectedness and reduced hospital admissions. She founded and chairs Compassionate Communities Australia which aims to become a hub of knowledge and skills for community-led solutions that would lead to social and systems change.

She is a Council member of Public Health Palliative Care International and is a member of the Public Health Palliative Care reference group of the European Association of Palliative Care. She served as member of the International Expert Advisory Group for the development of best practice statements in bereavement care in palliative care in Europe. She also served on the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council committees and chaired their grant review panels for 5 years.

Among Samar’s awards: The Centenary Medal in 2003 from the Prime Minister of Australia; the 2018 Medal for Excellence from the European Society for Person Centred Healthcare, the 2023 WA Australian of the Year; the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from MND Australia; the President’s Cup and Lifetime Member from MNDAWA; and Member of the Order of Australia (AM), Australia Day Honours, January 2025.

Presentation: The Missing Bridge: Compassionate Communities and the End-of-Life Ecosystem
The scale and imminent impact of ageing, Australia is facing, requires a whole of community urgent response and collaboration between health care, aged care, disability care systems and Compassionate Communities. Current systems are geared to doing tasks (transactional care) rather than facilitating connections between our elderly and the wider community (relational care), thus contributing to loneliness, learned helplessness, lack of self-agency and internalised ageism.  Current services need a cultural shift to reconceptualise care.

Public health palliative care provides a framework for the required reconceptualisation. This approach integrates healthcare, community, and civic efforts to enhance quality of life by recognising that caring ‘about’ someone means a lot more than caring ‘for’ someone and therefore addressing their social, emotional, and relational needs alongside clinical requirements. A Compassionate Communities focus bridges institutional boundaries by emphasising relationships, community support, and recognition of caregiving, dying and grieving as shared community experiences rather than isolated institutional events.

Dr Kerrie Noonan
La Trobe University

Dr Kerrie Noonan is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and educator with 30 years’ experience in palliative care, bereavement, and community development. She is a Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct Associate Professor with La Trobe University’s Public Health Palliative Care Unit, and Director of Research at Western NSW Local Health District. In 2020, she founded the Death Literacy Institute, which supports the development of death literacy globally. Kerrie is internationally recognised for her work in death literacy, a concept and set of tools she co-developed to measure and strengthen community capacity around death, dying, and loss. Her research spans public health approaches to palliative care, compassionate communities, bereavement and innovative models of practice that bridge health services, social care, and grassroots networks.

Presentation: Public Health Palliative Care: Developing Community Readiness for Ageing, Dying and Loss

Public Health Palliative Care (PHPC) reframes dying, caregiving, grief, and bereavement as social and public health concerns rather than solely clinical problems, arguing that end-of-life care is everyone’s responsibility. This requires action across communities, civic institutions, and the health and death systems. So, while “Compassionate Communities” has expanded awareness and participation, the next challenge for PHPC is to embed public health practices into policy, infrastructure, and everyday civic life. This presentation argues that PHPC is most effective when the five interconnected action areas of the Ottawa Charter are enacted together, building healthy public policy, supportive environments, community action, personal skills, and service reorientation to create sustainable systems change around ageing, dying, caregiving, and loss. This presentation will explore the evolution of public health initiatives toward a broader “compassionate death systems” approach that seeks structural, cultural and policy change.

Professor Kenneth Hillman AO
University of New South Wales

Ken Hillman is Professor of Intensive Care at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Ken graduated from Sydney University and trained at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney and St. Bartholomews hospital in London. He was one of the first formally trained intensive care specialists and became the Director of Intensive Care at Charing Cross Hospital in London before returning to Australia to become Director at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney. He has over 210 peer reviewed publications; approximately 90 chapters in textbooks; co-authored an intensive care textbook; co-edited several textbooks; written two books aimed at the general public; and has acquired over $23 million in peer reviewed grants. He has been invited to address over 130 international conferences and over 140 national conferences. Ken has held many professional positions related to health and is the Director of the Simpson Centre for Health Services Research. He has an Order of Australia and has a high public profile in the area of end of life and has given a TEDx talk at the Sydney Opera House on the subject.

Presentation: Dignified Dying
Having been a specialist in intensive care for over 40 years, Ken unfortunately witnessed dying at its most undignified. Intensive Care Units are at the end of the current conveyor belt as we manage people at the end of their lives. They suffer a terminal event in the community; are transported and admitted to acute hospitals, where many are unfortunately admitted to the ICU for the last few hours of days of life. The medical system often does not recognise terminally ill people along this journey and the goals of the person are often ignored. There are several ways to improve dying in our community. Empowering people with Shared Decision Making (SDM) is crucial. This is more effective than the tick box Advanced Care Directives. SDM is a genuine attempt to accurately translate the goals of an individual into specific instructions. Even then, the natural reflex of the health system is to prevent death and another step is needed. A specifically trained navigator is often required to ensure the stated (and often changing) goals of people are observed when confronted at each step with the complexities of the health system.

Jean Kittson AM

Jean is widely known to Australian audiences through her work across television, radio, and literature, but she is also a powerful advocate around the importance of quality palliative care, speaking widely on this topic for over a decade. More recently, after personal experience, Jean has also offered a thoughtful voice on ageing, care, and the realities many families face when supporting loved ones later in life. Her most recent bestselling book, We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad, explores the complex and often emotional conversations around ageing, illness, care and end-of-life decisions with warmth, honesty, and insight.

As long-term Patron of Palliative Care Nurses Australia and an advocate for compassionate care and open conversations about ageing and illness, Jean brings both humanity and humour to difficult topics — helping audiences reflect on how we support one another through life’s most significant transitions.

Her presentation will offer a unique and deeply human perspective on the themes of this year’s conference, exploring how connection, honesty and empathy shape the way we care for people at the end of life..

In 2023 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia. (AM)