Introduction and Overview
Aims: What We Want to Achieve
Who We Are
Services We Offer
Admission
Donors and Volunteers
Preparing for Death
The Buddhist Connection
Management and Governance
Who We Are
Brief History
The Pure Land Project started as an initiative of the Wheel of Life Palliative Care Support Group, a community service attached to the Hayagriva Buddhist Centre, 64 Banksia Terrace, Kensington, WA 6151. On 1 March 2018, the Pure Land Project was accepted as a new, independent ‘FPMT Study Group’ by FPMT, which is an international grouping of 160 centres all belonging to the same Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
Palliative Care Model
The palliative care model has historically focused on the control of pain – both physical and mental – to support the dying person and relieve suffering. More recently there has been Community and Governmental support for a more compassionate understanding of the dying person’s needs. This has led to industry undertakings that the inclusion and focus on the spiritual needs of the dying person, as a distinction beyond religious care, can be considered a basic human right. The primary basis for this care philosophy starts with providing care that is meaningful to the individual and that is able to be hard wired into the organisation and embedded within the model of care.
Palliative Care Australia have been developing recommendations for this type of service for some time whilst the Australian Government and National Ageing Research Institute Ltd have sought to incorporate guidelines for spiritual care throughout the Ageing Sector.
The current definitions rely on this service being defined as:
Palliative care is person and family-centred care provided for a person with an active, progressive, advanced disease, who has little or no prospect of cure and who is expected to die, and for whom the primary treatment goal is to optimise the quality of life.
The Pure Land Centre aims to be inclusive and therefore its prospective clientele will be broader than the research into spiritual care that is currently focused mainly within the ageing sector. As such our model of care seeks to identify services for all people who may be defined under the Palliative Care definition.
Palliative Care Australia considers that the following elements are integral to understanding this definition of palliative care:
- Palliative care should be strongly responsive to the needs, preferences and values of people, their families, and carers. A person and family-centred approach to palliative care is based on effective communication, shared decision-making, and personal autonomy.
- Palliative care should be available to all people living with an active, progressive, advanced disease, regardless of the diagnosis.
- Palliative care affirms life while recognising that dying is an inevitable part of life. This means that palliative care is provided during the time that the person is living with a life-limiting illness, but it is not directed at either bringing forward or delaying death.
Status: Legal, Charitable and Tax
Legal: The Pure Land Centre is constituted as an Incorporated Association in the state of Western Australia: Incorporation number IARN A1026041F. Its legal name is: The Pure Land of the Indestructible Buddha Incorporated. The Australian Business Number of the Pure Land Centre is ABN 63 779 274 643.
Charitable: The Pure Land Centre is registered as a not-for-profit charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission: ACNC number 63 779 274 643. The Pure Land Centre is also registered with the Western Australian government as a charity with Charitable Collections Licence number CC22576.
Tax: At this stage, the Pure Land Centre is not eligible for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status with the Australian Taxation Office. It is hoped this will change as we begin operating and our role becomes clear.
