"I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens," the comedian once famously quipped.

Research shows despite the growing threat of the COVID pandemic, most Australians still shy away from talking about the inevitable.

More than half don't have a valid will prepared, according to finder.com.au.

Australians are being urged to have a conversation about death and dying on August 8 for Dying to Know Day.

Created by The Groundswell Project and dubbed "the most important conversation you've never had", the project aims to improve how Australians die, care and grieve.

People are even being asked to this month hold events and gatherings to improve their knowledge around choice at the end of life.

"Death is often over-medicalised and institutionalised, and because of the lack of options, knowledge and decision-making power, there can be negative repercussions for the person dying and those around them," says project CEO Jessie Williams.

"We can help empower you with the knowledge you need.

"We know it feels good to be healthy. It feels good to eat the right foods to exercise once in a while but what do we do when our health leaves us?

"What do we do when our health gets limited to the stage where we're facing our own mortality - an ending of our life.

"Most of us will come to the realisation at some point that we don't have a long road ahead of us. And it's a part of the reality of life."

Widow Rechelle Leahy knows how difficult it is to deal with the death of a loved one.

Within a decade, she lost her mum, nan and husband to cancer and decided to create a solution.

The online platform iDecide, is designed to help users plan, store and share crucial information for end of life planning.

"My mum passed away from leukaemia within six weeks of being diagnosed," Ms Leahy said.

"This left no time for her to organise her affairs and managing her affairs myself once she passed away was challenging.

"By the time my husband was tragically diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer, we were much more knowledgeable about what we needed to have in order before his passing."

iDecide stores important documents and provides checklists for loved ones and those appointed to manage their affairs.

"I created iDecide to allow people to truly grieve without having all the stress of organising end of life affairs and giving people the opportunity to open up and have these important conversations before they pass away."

Australian Associated Press