EVENTS
The Australian Home Funeral Alliance offers regular information sessions on a variety of topics to help raise death literacy.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Global history and evolution of euthanasia and assisted dying.
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ABOUT: The world's first law that allowed a doctor to end the life of a terminally ill patient was passed in Darwin Australia in 1996, and marked a pivotal moment in this cutting edge social issue. Despite fierce opposition from the church and the medical profession the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act (ROTI) was passed by just one vote and only survived for 8 months before the Australian federal government used their power to overturn this law.
But, in that short period, 4 of Dr Philip Nitschke terminally ill patients were able to legally receive a lethal injection from the Deliverance machine he built and to end the suffering they were going through.
ROTI ended in 1997... but within months a state of America, Oregon, announced the introduction of similar changes. Washington state soon followed, then other states of the US, and in Europe the Netherlands in 2001, Belgium and Luxemburg. The world was changing, and, after the passage of another 20 years, Australia once again re-engaged with the issue. First, with Victoria that the other states all followed.
This talk, with special guest speaker, Dr Philip Nitschke, describes the background to this important social issue of this century and in particular, looks at other different legislative models, such as the Swiss human rights model, where sickness is not a prerequisite and doctors are not expected to act as gatekeepers to control access. Also discussed will be the rapid changes in available end of life options brought about by emerging new technologies, and the impact of AI on end of life choice will also be discussed.
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In 1996, Dr Philip Nitschke became the first physician in the world to administer a legal, lethal voluntary injection to for terminally ill patients under the Northern Territory’s Rights of the Terminally Ill Act.
Founder of Exit International, Philip is also the author of the Peaceful Pill Handbook that provided guidance for those seeking access to a peaceful elective death.
In 2019 at Venice Design, Philip unveiled Sarco. a 3D-printed euthanasia device that, at the press of a button, provides a peaceful, dignified death to the user.
Sarco was used in Switzerland in 2024 and has prompted international debate about the limits of end of life choice. Is an assisted death just a medically controlled privilege for the very sick, or is it a fundamental human right for all rational adults? Philip lives with his partner Fiona Stewart in Amsterdam.
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​​​This information session planned take place on Friday 28-August 2026 from 7pm to 8.30pm AEST
Death Literacy as Community Practice
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ABOUT: What if caring for people at the end of life was understood not only as a health service responsibility, but as a shared community practice?
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In this thought-provoking presentation, Dr Kerrie Noonan explores the concept of death literacy—the skills, knowledge, confidence and social networks that help people navigate dying, death, grief and caregiving.
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Drawing on more than three decades of research, innovation and community development, Dr Noonan will examine how death literacy is built through everyday relationships, lived experience and collective action. Positioned in a public health framework, she will share insights from the development of the Death Literacy Index and the growing international Death Literacy movement, exploring how communities can become active partners in supporting people through end-of-life experiences.
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This session invites audiences to reimagine death literacy not simply as individual knowledge, but as a community resource that strengthens social connection, reduces fear and isolation, and enhances our collective capacity to care, grieve and support one another through life’s most challenging transitions.​
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Dr Kerrie Noonan is Adjunct Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow at the Public Health Palliative Care Unit, La Trobe University and Director of the Death Literacy Institute. Her research spans public health approaches to palliative care and bereavement, death literacy, compassionate communities and the development of the death literacy index. Kerrie is Vice President of AHFA and Public Health Palliative Care International.
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​This information session planned take place on Tuesday 15-September 2026 from 7pm to 8.30pm AEST
Registrations are now open for this event.
AHFA presents Queer as Death - A Joyous Death
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ABOUT: This info session, AHFA is pleased to share a documentary about a Corpse Couture ritual for Ben Byrne, hosted at Black Spark Community Centre on Wurundjeri land, November 2, 2025. As inevitable as the tides, death comes for us all. When the time comes will we all be treated equally? Will the person we fought to be when we were alive be respected when all that remains of us is a corpse?
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Alex Antunes (she/her) will facilitate this event. She is a Naarm based aged care worker and holistic funeral assistant. She is a child of Portuguese migrants, and interested in understanding attitudes and cultural practices of people who have limited connection with their ancestors. She is passionate about empowering communities to make informed decisions about their care.
She is a current Natural Death Advocacy Network (NDAN) member and a founder of Queer As Death Collective which facilitate monthly Death Cafes for LGBTQIA+ people. ​
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​​​This information session will take place on Monday 19-October 2026 from 7pm to 8.30pm AEST
The Lonely Funeral Project, Amsterdam. Bringing voices to the unclaimed dead.
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ABOUT: This info session, AHFA is very pleased to bring you a conversation with Joris van Casteren, the current coordinator of The Lonely Funeral Project.
The Lonely Funeral Project is a humanitarian and literary initiative that began in the Netherlands in 2001 inspired by poet Bart FM Droog. In 2002, poet and artist F. Starik and Amsterdam city employee Ger Fritz formalized the project, ensuring a poet would write and read a personalized poem at the funeral of someone who died alone. The project has since expanded to Antwerp, Belgium, and other Dutch cities, with over 300 'lonely funerals' attended by poets. Come learn about how this project got started, continues to thrive.
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Joris van Casteren is considered one of the top authors of literary non-fiction in the Netherlands. He has published no less than 16 works and has been nominated for several awards over the years. Most recently he was nominated in 2026 - The Bean, the Flemish Literature Prize, for his 2024 work, Humanity will still hear from me. Joris is also the coordinator of The Lonely Funeral Project in Amsterdam.
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​​​This information session planned take place on Tuesday 17-November 2026 from 7pm to 8.30pm AEST
Registrations will open for this event closer to the date.
A NDAN & AHFA jointly presented event - Supporting people with intellectual disability with death, dying and grief
People with intellectual disability are often excluded from making decisions about:
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the end of their lives – including how and where they die – and what care and support they receive
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after death – like how they want to be remembered, what happens to their body, and what happens to the things that they own
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how they express and navigate grief and bereavement.
Supporters are often unsure how to talk with people with intellectual disability about death, dying and grief. Supporters may worry that people with intellectual disability:
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will not understand
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cannot make decisions
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and will be harmed by talking about these topics.
In fact, people with intellectual disability think these topics are very important and want to be supported to have conversations, to explore and to make their own decisions.
You can contribute to people with intellectual disability having dignity and choice through death, dying and grief.
In this webinar, you will:
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hear the voices and stories of people with intellectual disability
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learn about common experiences of exclusion for people with intellectual disability
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explore tools and approaches for supporting people with intellectual disability with death, dying and grief.
David Pech is an Inclusion Project Officer in the End of Life project at the Council for Intellectual Disability. He has had the privilege of working with and for people with disability for more than 13 years. The Council for Intellectual Disability (CID) is a disability rights organisation that advocates for people with intellectual disability living in NSW. CID works using co-production, which means that people with intellectual disability have a voice and contribute to every part of their work. The session will model best practice for including people with intellectual disability – like presenting in plain English.
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​​​This information session planned take place on Thursday 3-December 2026 from 7pm to 8.30pm AEST
Registrations will open for this event closer to the date.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
We’ve been hosting events and information sessions for some time, bringing together great speakers, thought-provoking conversations and informative topics.
Our information sessions are recorded and published to create a growing library of past sessions for you to explore.
If you missed an event—or simply want to revisit a previous session—head over to our Information Sessions page and watch the recording at a time that suits you.