Australian of the Year

Dr Roger Hunt has devoted more than 40 years to easing the suffering of people at the end of their lives.  

As a young doctor at South Australia’s first publicly funded hospice, Roger found himself walking beside patients and families through the tender and deeply human experience of dying and recognised his calling. 

A founding member of Daw House Hospice, Roger developed university courses that were among the first to be online, and he earned a research doctorate. He later served as Medical Head of the Western Adelaide Palliative Care Service and Central Adelaide Palliative Services. While Chairperson of SA’s Palliative Care Association, he helped establish Palliative Care Australia. 

Roger was a key advisor for South Australia’s Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act, protecting patient autonomy and clinicians’ ability to relieve suffering.  

Roger has long advocated for voluntary assisted dying to give patients more agency and control, he has served on ministerial panels and now sits on the SA Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board.