Overview

• The government tabled legislation with 13 reforms, including lifting the ban on doctors raising VAD, extending eligibility to 12 months’ life expectancy, removing a third assessment for neurodegenerative patients, and cutting the request interval from nine to five days.
• A compassion exemption would ease the Victorian residency rule for people with strong ties to the state and some cross-border patients from NSW and SA, with eligibility also extended to non-citizens who have lived in Australia for at least three years.
• Conscientious objectors would be required to provide minimum information, conflict-of-interest rules would be tightened, interpreter rules made more flexible, and a new administrative practitioner role created to expand the workforce.
• Implementation is projected to take about 18 months, with a three-year review followed by five-yearly reviews, following a statutory assessment that found safeguards impeded access and recorded 1,683 users since 2019.
• Health Minister Mary‑Anne Thomas has asked the federal Attorney‑General to amend carriage‑service laws to enable VAD via telehealth after a 2023 Federal Court ruling, and both Labor and Liberal MPs will get conscience votes on the bill.