What is compassion?

Compassion in Australian usage is the recognition of others' suffering and the willingness to act to relieve it. It underpins the country's humanitarian responses, charity sector, healthcare and aged care systems, family violence support, mental health services, and disaster relief.

Institutional expressions of compassion include the public health system through Medicare, the welfare safety net through Centrelink, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, public housing, family violence services, and mental health services through Lifeline (13 11 14), Beyond Blue, headspace, and the Better Access Medicare framework. Disaster relief is delivered through Services Australia recovery payments, state-based emergency responses, and the Australian Defence Force when civilian agencies are overwhelmed.

Australia's humanitarian programme is another major expression. The country has settled more than 950,000 refugees and humanitarian entrants since the end of the Second World War, including more than 17,000 from Syria and Iraq in 2015 to 2017, more than 28,000 from Afghanistan since 2021, and smaller numbers from Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, and elsewhere. The Refugee and Humanitarian Programme provides settlement services, English instruction, and access to Centrelink and Medicare. Annual programme levels are set by the federal government and have ranged from 13,750 to 20,000 places in recent years.

Community compassion is expressed through donations, volunteer service, and everyday acts of help. About 5.8 million Australians volunteer through formal organisations, and many more support friends, family, and neighbours informally. Donations to charities total about 13.1 billion dollars a year, supplemented by corporate giving, philanthropic foundations, and bequests. Major disaster appeals (the 2019 to 2020 Black Summer fires, the 2022 floods) attract donations from across the country and internationally. The growing Compassionate Communities movement promotes compassion as a public health value, particularly in end-of-life care and bereavement support.