The Greens are pushing for sweeping reforms to voluntary assisted dying laws as Victoria lags behind the rest of the country with many Victorians facing severe barriers to access.
The Victorian Greens say that the legislation urgently needs updating to stop people from suffering unnecessarily and have written to the Premier and the Opposition Leader urging them co-sponsor the Bill they will introduce to parliament this week
The Bill would remove the legislative barriers which make it difficult for many people to access Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Scheme, including:
- Removing the gag clause that prevents doctors discussing VAD with their patients.
- Remove the requirement to demonstrate an explicit prognosis timeframe.
- Legislate that practitioners who hold a conscientious objection to VAD cannot refuse to provide information if requested.
- Remove the requirement for a person to demonstrate 12 months residency in Victoria.
Next month marks seven years since the legislation – which was the first of its kind in Australia and groundbreaking at the time – passed the Victorian Parliament.
The legislation is now extremely outdated with many ‘safeguards’ in the legislation significantly restricting access and eligibility in Victoria in comparison to other states.
Experts are calling for the legislation to urgently be reviewed, submitting these concerns to the Labor government’s 5-year operational review which is now overdue on reporting.
Victoria’s lagging laws will be at the forefront of conversation at the Go Gentle Australia’s trans-Tasman Voluntary Assisted Dying Conference this week, which is the biggest gathering of stakeholders in the space across Australia and New Zealand.
As stated by the Victorian Greens spokesperson for Health Services, Dr Sarah Mansfield:
“As the first state to introduce voluntary assisted dying, the laws were drafted with safeguards, but now years later these are restrictive barriers that are causing harm and stopping people from being able to access the scheme.
“I had many patients during my time as a doctor who could have been spared significant pain and suffering if the scheme was available then, but I often think about how even now I wouldn’t be able to discuss it with them.”
As stated by Dr Nick Carr, GP in St Kilda and Board Member of Dying with Dignity:
“Voluntary assisted dying is the only medical treatment that doctors are banned from raising with people. This absurd rule discriminates against the most vulnerable and must be scrapped.”
As stated by President of Dying with Dignity Victoria, Jane Morris:
“It is backwards that in this day and age that a doctor may not initiate discussion on voluntary assisted dying as an end-of-life option for an individual who may otherwise suffer a prolonged, unbearable and undignified death.”
As stated by Go Gentle Australia CEO, Dr Linda Swan:
“Victoria was the first state to pass voluntary assisted dying legislation and led the way for the rest of Australia. After five years of the law’s operation, we now need to reflect on where improvements could be made to VAD care and where further reform is needed. The so-called ‘gag clause’ in Victoria has been a particularly problematic barrier to access. Doctors cannot raise the topic even in the context of end-of-life discussions. This is unprecedented in health care, does not represent person-centred care and is out-of-step with established best practice.”
