This report outlines the need for a data set for community-based palliative care services that is relevant to national policy development and accountability, and provides details of a pilot test of the data set which aimed to evaluate the data items and their permissible values. This data set lays the foundation for the future agreement of a national minimum data set, which would see the collection of ongoing data about community-based palliative care clients for national collection and reporting. The data items within the draft client data set specification include items that relate to: the patient, the episode of palliative care, the episode of grief and bereavement counselling, and each service contact within these episodes.