Victoria鈥檚 voluntary assisted dying review told of cruel delays, access inequality

March 4, 2024
Issue 
Dying with Dignity has given positive feedback to the 5-year review of Victoria鈥檚 voluntary assisted dying laws. Photo: Dying With Dignity Victoria/Facebook

Section 116 of Victoria鈥檚 聽requires a review of the first four years of the Act in its fifth year, between June 2023 and June 2024.

The is currently conducting the review, which started last July.

Dying With Dignity Victoria (DWDV) said in its there was an urgent need for a聽. It said too many people are not having their needs met in a system that is not compassionate, or timely, for many.

was based on feedback 鈥渙ver several years from people seeking VAD and their families and carers, the doctors on our board, [and] other health professionals with whom we interact鈥.

Victoria is now falling behind other states which have benefitted from learning from its experience in legislating and implementing the law.

While safeguards need to be robust, in practice, some have proven an unconscionable burden on the terminally ill.

According to DWDV board member Dr Nick Carr: 鈥淭oo many Victorians are unable to access VAD or find their application experience distressing and slow.鈥

Carr said that while he welcomed Victorians being able to access VAD 鈥渢here are many ways in which Victoria鈥檚 VAD systems, processes and practices fail to meet the needs of Victorians seeking VAD, as well as the needs of their families and carers鈥.

DWDV made seven key recommendations, including that the prognosis requirement and definition of suffering be widened. Suffering is too narrowly construed as people with intolerable physical or mental suffering who do not meet the prognosis requirements are excluded.

The organisation also wants a restrictive 鈥済ag clause鈥 lifted. Registered health practitioners are prohibited from initiating a discussion about VAD with patients. No other area of healthcare requires patients to know their treatment options before consulting a doctor.

It said not enough doctors are providing VAD.聽Out of 35,000 medical practitioners in Victoria, only 208 had actively participated in VAD as of last June. This particularly impacts individuals, their families and carers, in regional and rural areas.

Institutions that object to VAD still have the power to significantly curtail people鈥檚 ability to access a medical service. This needs to change, DWDV said.

Victorians who lack the ability to make decisions at the time they become otherwise eligible for VAD, or who lose that capacity during the assessment process, are excluded from accessing VAD, and this also needs to change DWDV said.

As cannot occur on the telephone, email or telehealth, this negatively affects those seeking VAD, especially those in regional and rural areas. This requires amending the聽Criminal Code Act 1995.聽

Jane Morris, DWDV President, told聽麻豆传媒: 鈥淪ome issues limiting access to VAD cannot be addressed without legislative change 鈥 it is critical that a full review of the legislation is scheduled as soon as possible, given no further review is mandated in the current Act.鈥

DWDV聽will be present when the review鈥檚 report and聽key findings are tabled in the Victorian Parliament.

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