ENSURING ALL AUSTRALIANS HAVE EQUAL ACCESS
TO END-OF-LIFE SERVICES

Kate introduced her Voluntary Assisted Dying Telehealth Bill to the House of Representatives on 12 February 2024.

Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is now lawful in all Australian states, yet the Commonwealth Criminal Code prevents people from promoting suicide using a carriage service. Late in 2023, the Federal Court found that this included online VAD consultations. This means doctors are at risk of being prosecuted if they use telehealth to discuss VAD with patients.

“I have heard heartbreaking stories of terminally ill people travelling long distances in agony to see a doctor in person, or both doctor and patient travelling for hours to have a consultation halfway in a carpark. VAD practitioners are being forced to choose between compassionate and convenient care for their patients and the risk of being prosecuted.”

Kate’s Bill makes a simple change to the Criminal Code, by making it clear that VAD is not suicide.

You can read the VAD Telehealth Bill here, the Explanatory Memorandum and Kate’s Speech in Parliament. You can also watch Kate’s Speech in Parliament in the middle video below or here.

You can support the Bill by writing to the Federal and State Attorneys-General to ask that they support the Bill.