The WA Australian of the Year wants us to talk more about one of the only certainties in life… death.

Professor Samar Aoun (above), the Perron Institute Research Chair in palliative care at UWA, told Michael Genovese – in the Breakfast chair for Gareth Parker today – that we need to talk more openly about our mortality.

“People don’t think about these things, we need to do it really at an early stage in our lives… even kids when they have a death of a grandparent or a friend, they tend to be isolated and not be told anything, and hidden and shaken. They need to know that death is a part of life,” she told Genovese.

Tap PLAY to hear why we need to discuss death

OTHER WINNERS:
WA Senior Australian of the Year – Theresa Kwok, who has spent much of the last 35 years helping migrants settle in Australia.
WA Young Australian of the Year – Peter Bol, middle-distance runner and Olympian
WA Local Hero – James (Jimmy) Murphy, who founded Town Team Movement to inspire and support people to regenerate their neighbourhoods.