We are delighted to launch a new project for South Australia—The Compassionate Alliance SA.
Public Health Palliative Care has been around for some time and includes the concept of Compassionate Communities—networks of support around people in the last chapter of life. These networks complement health services and civic supports, ensuring that love, laughter and friendship stay central to someone’s life, right to the last breath.
A key part of how our society is structured is through organisations—businesses, councils, service providers, education providers, community groups, sporting clubs, faith-based organisations and more. These organisations operate within systems and structures, while also connecting large networks of people, including staff, volunteers, clients, customers, members and local communities.
Recognising this, The Compassionate Alliance has been developed as a statewide framework to support organisations to engage with and showcase their Compassionate Communities activities.
The initiative has been co-designed over the past 12 months by Palliative Care SA, Palliative Care Victoria, Carers SA, Carers Victoria and Flinders University, with funding support from the Wicking Trust.
The Compassionate Alliance is a free initiative designed to build capacity for social inclusion and participation by strengthening compassionate and inclusive practices across organisations. It recognises that supporting people through serious illness, caregiving, dying and grief is not the responsibility of health services alone—it is something we all have a role in, including organisations.
The project is underpinned by the Public Health Palliative Care International Bern Declaration, the Compassionate Cities Charter, the World Health Organization’s Ottawa Charter and principles of Corporate Social Responsibility.
At its core, The Compassionate Alliance provides a practical framework guiding organisations to focus on three key areas:
- supporting their own people, including staff and volunteers
- supporting those connected to them, including clients, customers, members and communities
- strengthening internal systems, policies and practices
Through a structured 12-month cycle, including self-assessment and personalised guidance, organisations are supported to embed Compassionate Communities principles into their everyday work.
Importantly, this initiative also recognises and celebrates the work already happening—such as dementia-friendly, age-friendly and healthy community initiatives—providing a shared platform where efforts can be acknowledged, strengthened and connected.
We will commence our first cohort of organisations from 1 July, with the project opening more broadly across South Australia during Carers Week in October 2026.
We invite organisations of all kinds—charities, businesses, councils, government, service providers, schools, universities and community groups—to be part of this growing movement.
By joining The Compassionate Alliance, organisations are making a visible and meaningful commitment to reducing social isolation, improving support and fostering a culture where conversations about serious illness, palliative care, caregiving, dying and grief are met with confidence and compassion.
👉 Visit thecompassionatealliance.com.au
👉 Sign up to our e-news to learn more and get involved
Together, we can build communities where everybody has a role to play in supporting one another—a state where everyone is ready, willing and able to respond with both practical care and compassion.