"Today we saw history taking place with voluntary assisted dying laws passing the Victorian parliament, a first for any Australian state. Below is an extract of a letter to the Lamp magazine by NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association President Coral Levitt (pictured) from earlier this...
Debate on the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill began in the Victorian Upper House on 2 November. After two days of emotionally-charged debate the bill passed the second reading by 22 votes to 18, and moved onto the committee stage. This stage began on 14 November and was eventually...
The NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was a private member's bill introduced by Nationals MP Trevor Khan, a member of the Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying. The bill, which they had developed over two years, in consultation with key stakeholders, failed to pass in...
A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey was conducted on the night of 2 November, 2017 with a representative cross-section of 1,386 Australians aged 18+. Respondents were asked: “If a hopelessly ill patient with no chance of recovering asks for a lethal dose, should a...
The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) announced its in-principle support for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in a policy document released today. A total of 19 out of 21 AMSA representatives from every Australian medical school voted in favour of the policy. [caption id="attachment_11007" align="alignright" width="300"] Michael...
At just after 11 am today, Friday 20 October, Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was passed in the Victorian Lower House by a conscience vote of 47 to 37. Debate began at 9.30 am on Thursday and continued throughout the night, pausing only for two short 30-minute...
Press Release by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners 20 October 2017 The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed the passing of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in the lower house of Victorian parliament this morning after comprehensive and contemporary discussion about the...
A new independent nationwide poll released today has found that 73% of Australians support voluntary assisted dying. The poll was conducted by Essential Research from 10 to 14 August 2017 and 1,000 respondants were asked: “If someone with a terminal illness who is experiencing unrelievable suffering asks...
Press Release by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch) - Thursday 19 October 2017 Nurses union calls on Victorian Parliament to vote for voluntary assisted dying law Voluntary assisted dying law will give terminally ill patients more access to palliative care options, further specialised review...
Professor Julian Savulescu (pictured, Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics and Law, Melbourne University, University of Oxford) provided a piece for The Conversation 'Sex versus death: why marriage equality provokes more heated debate than assisted dying' 18 October 2017, which includes the following interesting observations: "One major...
A NSW ReachTEL poll commissioned by Fairfax media, found that 69 per cent of NSW voters support a law that would give the terminally ill the right to end their lives with a doctor's assistance. The poll was conducted on 5 October and results are based...
Profesor Brian Owler, Neurosurgeon and the immediate past federal president of the Australian Medical Association, gave the address to the National Press Club on 12 October 2017. He spoke about voluntary assisted dying and, more specifically, the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2017). Amongst other things, Profesor...