What's your experience and understanding of Palliative Care in Australia?

Here is an excerpt from the Statement on Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care from The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM):-

"The goal of palliative care is to prevent and relieve suffering, and to support the best possible quality of life for patients and their families, regardless of their stage of disease or the need for other therapies, in accordance with their values and preferences. Palliative care is both a philosophy of care and an organized, highly structured system for delivering care. Palliative care expands traditional disease-model medical treatments to include the goals of enhancing quality of life for patient and family, optimizing function, helping with decision-making and providing opportunities for personal growth. As such, it can be delivered concurrently with life-prolonging care or as the main focus of care.

Palliative care is operationalized through effective management of pain and other distressing symptoms, while incorporating psychosocial and spiritual care according to patient/family needs, values, beliefs and culture(s). Evaluation and treatment should be comprehensive and patient-centered, with a focus on the central role of the family in decision-making. Palliative care affirms life by supporting the patient and family's goals for the future, including their hopes for cure or life prolongation, as well as their hopes for peace and dignity throughout the course of illness, including the dying process and death. Palliative care aims to guide and assist the patient and family in making decisions that enable them to work toward their goals during whatever time they have remaining.

Comprehensive palliative care services often require the expertise of various providers in order to adequately assess and treat the complex needs of seriously ill patients and their families. Members of a palliative care team may include professionals from medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, nutrition, rehabilitation, pharmacy and other professional disciplines. Leadership, collaboration, coordination and communication are crucial for effective integration of these disciplines and services."

The above is what I would agree is Palliative Care, but in Australia it seems, things are done a little differently. Whilst its true the goal is to focus on comfort and pain relief, it seems there seems to be a shortfall in being able to still treat the underlying illness (if possible and if desired by the patient) - this doesn't seem to be a priority nor a interest in Palliative Care settings in Australia. The buck seems to be passed from medical oncologist/Dr to Palliative Care.

It seems the system is underfunded, dysfunctional and there appears to be an inconsistancy in service delivery from one facility to another. Curiously it seems Palliative Care facilities seem to be basically run in coordination with public hospitals which isn't always a good thing, considering the state of our public hospitals.

I have first hand experienced more than one terrible experience in palliative care in a facility in Sydney's South West (Braeside) and withdrew my father from it.

What are your experiences with Palliative Care in Australia? I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts on facilities in this country.