“As a clinician, I firmly believe that people have the right to choose how they live, which includes having choices about how they die….The current lack of any regulation leaves vulnerable people open to all sorts of risks of coercion, with no checks and balances available.

“I have seen awful deaths, average deaths and many deaths which went pretty well. If it has been my job to help people live their lives as healthily and well as possible within the bounds of their preferences, surely it is also my job to help them end it in a manner as befits their wishes? Helping someone end their days well, in accordance with their individual wishes where possible, is the final act of caring that I can provide.

“Good palliative care is crucial, should be properly funded and available for all those who need it. VAD is not meant to be in some sort of opposition to palliative care, but an option for those whose suffering cannot be adequately addressed by even the best palliative care. Palliative care and VAD are complementary, not mutually exclusive.”

Click for article in The Guardian on 5 October 2017 ‘Helping someone die well is the final act of caring I can give as a doctor‘ by Dr Nick Carr, a GP in St Kilda, Victoria

Click for article in Right Now on 20 September 2017 ‘Giving Australians the right to die with dignity – Mihilini Fernando in conversation with Dr Nick Carr‘