That's the question the McGrath Foundation asked Ethicol to help answer.
In 2023, the Commonwealth Government commissioned the McGrath Foundation to establish Australia's first all-cancer supportive care nurse service, a landmark commitment to equity in cancer care. To ensure the model would genuinely serve the people who needed it most, the McGrath Foundation brought Ethicol in to co-design the model of care: the values, principles, and practices that would guide nearly 100 specialist cancer nurses across the country.
What followed was a process built on deep listening. Using Ethicol's own co-design framework, we reached over 350 people through surveys and held direct consultations with more than 400 health consumers, clinicians, and stakeholders including nine priority communities. Each community had a tailored engagement approach, because meaningful participation looks different for everyone, and people deserve to share their experience in a way that feels right for them.
The outcome is a model of care that reflects the full breadth of the Australian experience of cancer, not designed for a hypothetical patient, but for real people, in real communities, with real needs. Built together.
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