Australia is often praised for its quality of life, but a new report has singled out the lucky country as one of the best places in the world to die.
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Research published by The Economist Intelligence Unit finds that Australia ranks second with 91.6 points in the 2015 Quality of Death Index, behind Britain (93.9) and ahead of New Zealand (87.6).
The index, commissioned by Singapore's Lien Foundation, rates the quality of palliative care in 80 countries, based on research as well as interviews with more than 120 experts around the world.
Australia was rated highly for its affordability of end-of-life care, its "clear vision" for national palliative care, availability of specialists and accessibility of opioid painkillers.
The report says it is "no surprise" that wealthier countries dominate the top of the list," with Ireland, Belgium, Taiwan, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and France making up the rest of the top 10.
Iraq, Bangladesh and the Philippines took out the bottom three places overall.
But the index also finds that even top-ranked countries still struggle to provide adequate palliative care for every citizen. In the report, Australia is rated less highly for public understanding of palliative care services and was criticised for inconsistency in care delivery.
"There isn't an equitable spread of funding across the country," Palliative Care Australia chief executive Liz Callaghan said in the report.
Despite Australia's first place in the "human resources" category - where countries are assessed on the availability of healthcare workers with palliative care training - there are still gaps.
Retired palliative care doctor and advocate Yvonne McMaster told the report there are only four specialist palliative care doctors in New South Wales outside of Sydney.
"Even though more are being trained, the funding isn't being provided for the positions," she said.
This is the second Quality of Death Index. In 2010, Britain also finished in first place with Australia second and New Zealand third.
