The government of New South Wales in Australia has slashed palliative care funding, while directing some of that money into assisted suicide.

The Daily Telegraph revealed that the government covertly cut Aus$150 million that was supposed to pay for items like palliative care nurses, pain management drugs and better end-of-life services.

Palliative care advocates say the cuts will force more people to die at home without specialist help, leading to increased suffering.

The money has been reallocated within NSW Health budget, which includes $97.4 million over four years to implement Voluntary Assisted Dying laws.

The Telegraph understands that NSW Health put forward the cuts as part of the cabinet expenditure review process; and health bureaucrats are understood to have consistently opposed spending money on palliative care.

Palliative care advocate Natasha Walsh, whose husband Derek died of brain cancer in 2019, said the cuts would only increase suffering for families in the midst of trauma.

“Its already immensely painful when someone dies and you know, particularly when they’re young”, she said.

“If the money is being pulled back, then that means less time at either rehab boards or time with service providers to get assistance”.