Publications
JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT: Palliative Care ACT, Community Options, and Health Care Consumers Association of the ACT
1 September 2026
More than three weeks have passed since Community Options publicly announced it was preparing to close after no funding was identified in the 2026-27 ACT Budget to continue its Community Transition Support Program.
It has been considerably longer since the Directorate was first asked to consider how the unique and flexible support model delivered by Community Options could be preserved. Yet there is still no public plan for how this support will continue once Community Options winds down.
For more than 35 years, Community Options has provided flexible support, intensive case management, advocacy and practical assistance for Canberrans whose needs do not fit the eligibility criteria of existing programs. This includes people living with chronic illness or a life-limiting illness, people who do not qualify for the NDIS, aged care or other established programs, and families navigating complex health and social care systems.
Palliative Care ACT CEO Paul Arztenhofer said he was hearing concerns from families, clinicians, palliative care specialists and health service leaders about the consequences of withdrawing support from people with complex needs.
“When someone is living with a life-limiting illness, practical support can be just as important as clinical care. Help navigating services, attending appointments, coordinating support at home, or managing the impact of illness on daily life can make the difference between coping and crisis.”
“Around 90 per cent of Australians say they would prefer to receive end-of-life care at home if the right supports are available. We are concerned that the loss of this service will mean more people reach crisis point, making it harder for them to remain at home and increasing demand for inpatient services such as Canberra Hospital and Clare Holland House.”
“If this service disappears without a replacement, people will not suddenly stop needing help. Those needs will simply emerge somewhere else, often at a point of crisis and often within a health system that is already under pressure.”
Former Community Options CEO Brian Corley said the issue was no longer about the future of the organisation itself.
“Community Options is preparing to close. We have been clear about that.”
“What concerns us is that the people who need these services will still be here after we are gone. We are still no closer to an answer about who will provide this support in the future.”
The question is not whether these needs exist. The question is how they will be met once Community Options closes.
Health Care Consumers Association ACT Executive Director Lachlan Atyeo said consumers deserved certainty.
“The people who rely on Community Options have not disappeared.”
“We hear regularly from people who are trying to navigate multiple systems while managing illness, caring responsibilities or other complex circumstances. Too often, they find themselves moving between services, eligibility criteria and waiting lists, without help to make sense of it all.”
“From a consumer perspective, the question is simple. If Community Options closes, where do these people go?”
We are also concerned that time is running out to preserve the workforce, expertise and community connections that underpin this service.
Community Options staff have spent decades building specialist knowledge, trusted relationships and referral pathways across Canberra’s health and community sectors. As the organisation progresses its wind-down, there is a growing risk that this capability will be lost.
We believe the cost of maintaining a flexible community support service is modest when compared with the human and financial costs of avoidable hospital admissions, extended hospital stays and crisis interventions.
To be clear, this is not a call for funding for any of our organisations to be the future provider.
We are calling on the ACT Government to identify and fund a pathway that ensures the flexible support currently provided through Community Options is not lost.
The provider matters far less than the outcome.
While Community Options is preparing to close, the needs it addresses are not.
Media enquiries via Palliative Care ACT: [email protected]