The Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care is a postgraduate qualification designed for registered health professionals — including nurses, allied health workers, social workers, and medical practitioners — who seek to extend their capabilities in end-of-life and life-limiting illness care. The course equips students with advanced clinical knowledge and the compassionate communication skills required to support patients, families, and carers through some of the most challenging experiences in human life. Core content covers pain and symptom management, psychosocial and spiritual care, ethics and legal frameworks, grief and bereavement, and the coordination of interdisciplinary care teams across diverse settings such as hospitals, hospices, residential aged care facilities, and community health services. The qualification is typically completed over one year part-time and is widely available online, making it accessible to working health professionals across Australia. Employers of graduates include public and private hospitals, specialist palliative care units, aged care providers, hospices, community health services, cancer care centres, and primary health care organisations.

Most Australian providers of the Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care require applicants to hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant health discipline, such as nursing, medicine, allied health, social work, psychology, pharmacy, physiotherapy, or occupational therapy. Applicants must typically hold current registration with the relevant Australian regulatory body — for nurses, this means current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) through AHPRA. Most programs also require a minimum of one to two years of postgraduate clinical experience in a health or closely related field, with some providers specifying that applicants must be currently working in a clinical setting relevant to palliative care. Applicants with advanced VET qualifications in health or aged care, combined with substantial relevant work experience, may be considered for admission on a case-by-case basis at some institutions.

For English language proficiency, non-native English speakers are generally required to demonstrate competency through recognised tests such as IELTS (typically a minimum overall band of 7.0 with no sub-band below 7.0 for nursing), TOEFL iBT, or PTE Academic, in line with the NMBA English language skills registration standard for nursing and midwifery. Some institutions may waive English language requirements for applicants whose primary language is English or who have completed a prior qualification taught entirely in English in Australia or another recognised English-speaking country. Admission is competitive and based on academic merit, professional experience, and selection criteria; prospective students are encouraged to contact providers directly to confirm current requirements.