What is palliative care
For the purposes of release on compassionate grounds, palliative care, is help that allows a person who requires end of life care to live as fully and comfortably as possible. Palliative care can be provided in a hospice, in a hospital or at home, depending on the nature of the illness and the availability of care and support.
Eligibility conditions for palliative care
If you're applying for palliative care expenses, you must meet the following 2 eligibility conditions:
- Condition 1 – you or your dependant has a terminal illness and has 24 months or less to live.
- Condition 2 – you or your dependant requires palliative care.
Where the expense has already been paid for by borrowing money, you or your dependant still need to have met these criteria for the palliative care. You also need to meet the additional eligibility criteria for the borrowed amount.
Expenses that may be eligible
Expenses that may be eligible include the cost of:
- accommodation in a palliative care facility
- service providers, such as doctors, nurses or counsellors
- home carers related to the palliative management
- hiring specialised medical equipment or aids for use in the home
- therapies to assist in easing pain, such as massages or acupuncture.
Expenses that are not eligible
Expenses that are generally not considered to be an expense associated with palliative care include:
- payment of rent, mortgage, or utilities
- pre-payment of funeral expenses
- payment for flights or accommodation to visit someone in palliative care.
Evidence for the expense
You must provide both a:
- quote or invoice
- medical report from a registered medical practitioner or specialist.
If you're applying to pay an expense for another person, you may need to provide evidence that you're in a dependent relationship with them.
Where the expense has been paid by borrowing money, additional documents are required.
Medical reports
Ask your registered medical practitioner to use our medical report form to make sure they provide all the information we need. We also provide information for health practitioners about how to provide an appropriate report.
The medical report must clearly state that:
- you or your dependant has a terminal illness and has 24 months or less to live
- you or your dependant requires palliative care
- the type of palliative care required (for example, at home or in a palliative care facility).
Example: palliative care at home
Gavin makes an application for compassionate release of super to pay for palliative care expenses for his wife Danica.
Gavin includes a medical report from Danica’s registered medical practitioner which states that Danica has a terminal neurological condition and is not expected to live longer than 12 months. The medical practitioner has also certified that Danica needs palliative care and her preference is to remain in her own home.
Gavin also provides a quote and an invoice. One shows the cost of a year’s rent on their current home and the other is for a specialised medical bed to make Danica comfortable at home.
In this case we:
- can approve an amount to be released from super to pay for the specialised bed
- can't approve the amount for rent as this is a general living expense.
Danica may be able to access her own super tax-free from her fund under the terminal medical condition of release.
End of example