DWD ACT
In early September most of the ACT election candidates who had already registered with the Electoral Commission were emailed a survey questionnaire about their attitude to Voluntary Assisted Dying.
The full report of the survey response is available on the Canberrans for a Good Death website.
Based on the responses, a short Form Guide for Voters was developed, as below.
A YOUGOV survey of 629 Canberrans found strong support for VAD, and very strong support for extending the current VAD legislation to cater for people who were suffering intolerably but were not close to death.
The new VAD legislation from 3 November 2025 will not help people who lose decision-making capacity. The Legislative Assembly has supported a motion to consider this problem. The resolution proposes that the Government report back on possible models by May 2025.
On 5 June 2024 the ACT Legislative Assembly passed the ACT Voluntary Assisted Dying bill. The vote was 20 in favour, 5 against. All Labor and Greens members voted in favour of the bill, along with Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, deputy opposition leader Leanne Castley and Liberal members Nicole Lawder…
ACT MLA Dr Marisa Paterson has invited community consultation on her proposed amendments to the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill currently before the Legislative Assembly. She says “I am proposing amendments … seeking to address a critical gap in existing VAD legislation across Australia, where a person loses capacity following the final request…
The bill proposing Voluntary Assisted Dying was debated on Thursday 16 May in the ACT Legislative Assembly. The Canberra Times reported that Labor and Greens members have committed to support the bill. Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee is quoted as saying “I fundamentally believe that every one of us…
About assisted dying Assisted dying, or voluntary assisted dying, is an additional end-of-life choice that provides eligible people who are suffering and dying with the option of asking for medical assistance to end their lives. It is always voluntary and involves strict eligibility criteria and multiple assessments. Voluntary assisted dying…
Jos Hall Talk to DWDACT members – Thursday 19 October 2023 Good afternoon everyone. As Jeanne said, I was President of Dying With Dignity Queensland for almost 10 years before resigning earlier this year and becoming Secretary of the group. As Voluntary Assisted Dying was only recently legalised in Queensland,…
Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne introduced the proposed legislation to the Assembly on Tuesday (31 October). She said it was the greatest honour of her life.
“This bill is what we spent 25 years fighting for our Territory rights for,” she said.
“Voluntary assisted dying [VAD] is not an alternative to, nor does it detract from palliative care.
DWDACT Inc. made a submission to the recent public enquiry by the ACT Government calling for ACT citizens to provide their views to it prior to the Legislative Assembly making laws regarding this matter. Our submission was drafted using the YourSay terms of reference and also responds to the questions asked in the discussion paper provided as a basis for responses.
The DWDACT Inc. submission also adds data from the ABS about deaths in the ACT and encourages the ACT Legislative Assembly to draft legislation that is consistent with the ACT Human Rights Act.
Queensland’s VAD law will become a reality on 1 January 2023. The QLD Health Implementation Unit is encouraging health practitioners - doctors and nurses – to register their interest, check their eligibility and sign up for online training. Getting enough trained practitioners will be “critical to success”, says Prof. Keith…
