News

W.A Inquiry into assisted dying calls for public submissions

On 23 August 2017, the Western Australian Parliament established a Joint Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council to inquire and report on the need for laws in Western Australia to allow citizens to make informed decisions regarding their own end of life...

Oregonians still satisfied with their law after 20 years

The Oregon assisted dying law has been providing comfort at the end of life to Oregonians for 20 years. Their Death with Dignity Act officially took effect on October 27, 1997. According to the Death with Dignity National Center “the simple fact is that the Act works...

NSW Bill presented in Parliament

On 21 September, NSW Nationals MLC Trevor Khan formally presented the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 to the NSW Legislative Council. The Bill has been prepared over the past two years by the NSW Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying (PWGAD), consisting of the Hon. Trevor Khan...

Victorians overwhelmingly support voluntary assisted dying

A survey of 500 Victorian adults, conducted in late July by research company Review Partners on behalf of Go Gentle Australia, found that 72% of Victorians supported the right of adults “to choose to end their lives if they are suffering from a terminal illness”....

Bishop says Christianity should not be used to oppose assisted dying

A Victorian Anglican bishop, Bishop Andrew Curnow, has delivered a startling rebuke to those demanding he oppose marriage equality and assisted dying. Bendigo Bishop Curnow argued Australia was no longer a Christian nation and using Christianity as grounds to oppose equal marriage and voluntary assisted...

NSW Premier doesn’t think she can support the bill

The NSW Premier and Member for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian, was interviewed by 2GB's Ben Fordham on 5 September about the issue of voluntary assisted dying. It seems that Ms Berejiklian has decided to vote against the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2017) which has not yet...

Registered Nurse: Some patients do suffer in the end

By Tara Nipe, a registered nurse, nursing academic, and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Vic) project officer. The overwhelming majority of patients die well: without pain or agitation, with loved ones present or recently visited. But as even experts in the field acknowledge, a tiny number...

Rising support for assistance in dying by Canadian doctors

Informal polls conducted at the Canadian Medical Association's annual general meeting on August 23 show rising support among doctors for medical assistance in dying (MAID). The CMA represents about 85,000 physicians, residents and medical students, and previously was not a keen supporter of MAID. "The mood is...

Assisted dying law improves California’s end-of-life care

Physicians across California say that since the introduction of the End Of Life Option Act 2016 conversations that health workers are having with patients are leading to patients’ fears and needs around dying being addressed better than ever before. They say the law has improved...

Catholic church mobilises against assisted dying in NSW

According to today's Sydney Morning Herald, Bishop Peter Comensoli, the designated spokesman for Catholic bishops on the voluntary assisted dying issue, has organised distribution of a petition to 26 parishes and more than 40 schools in his diocese of Broken Bay, covering Sydney's north shore,...