'Not the way they wanted to die': Final wishes of thousands of Australians going unmet

By Nicole Hasham
Updated January 11 2018 - 9:43pm, first published 9:40pm
Palliative care worker, Justine Betteridge, helps her client, Margaret Cox, get dressed after her shower, in Sydney. 30th March 2017 Photo: Janie Barrett
Palliative care worker, Justine Betteridge, helps her client, Margaret Cox, get dressed after her shower, in Sydney. 30th March 2017 Photo: Janie Barrett
Susana Levaci, 42, who has untreatable cervical cancer, with her two daughters, Talei, 8, and Rosie, 10, finds the visits at home by palliative care worker, Justine Betteridge, help her cope mentally with the burden of not being able to do everything she wants for her children, in Sydney. 24th April 2017 Photo: Janie Barrett
Susana Levaci, 42, who has untreatable cervical cancer, with her two daughters, Talei, 8, and Rosie, 10, finds the visits at home by palliative care worker, Justine Betteridge, help her cope mentally with the burden of not being able to do everything she wants for her children, in Sydney. 24th April 2017 Photo: Janie Barrett

The desire of thousands of gravely ill Australians to die without pain and surrounded by family is going unmet because palliative care services fall badly short, the national peak body has warned.