Episode 28: Voluntary Assisted Dying – The evolving landscape in Australia

Content warning: this episode of The Checkup discusses highly sensitive topics, including death and suicide. If you find this episode triggering, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

The evolving landscape of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) presents significant ethical and legal challenges for healthcare professionals in Australia. Understanding these complexities is crucial for ensuring compliance with current legislation while providing compassionate and effective care.

In this episode of The Checkup, BN’s Samantha Pillay and Demi Peters delve into the complex world of VAD with returning guest, Dr Ruthie Jeanneret, a lecturer at The University of Queensland, School of Medicine and TC Beirne School of Law. Ruthie completed her PhD thesis at QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research, which investigated patients' and family caregivers' perspectives and experiences of VAD regulation in Australia and Canada. She has been involved in writing the VAD mandatory training for participating practitioners in Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria.

Together, they discuss the evolving regulatory framework, ethical dilemmas faced by healthcare providers, and practical implications of VAD in clinical practice.

Key questions considered in this episode include:

• What are the current legal requirements for VAD?
• How can healthcare professionals navigate the ethical tensions surrounding VAD?
• What are the challenges and opportunities in the evolving VAD landscape?

This episode provides valuable insights for healthcare professionals grappling with the complexities of VAD, helping them uphold their legal and ethical responsibilities in this sensitive area of practice.

This episode of The Checkup was edited by Audio Advantage.

Further reading and references:  

• The Checkup – Voluntary assisted dying: Implementation, consequences, and obligations of the new laws on healthcare practitioners: Episode 24
• How patients and caregivers influence voluntary assisted dying systems: QUT Research Paper
• Calls to ensure voluntary assisted dying access for rural and regional Australians after Federal Court ruling: ABC News
• Criminal Code Amendment (Telecommunications Offences for Suicide Related Material—Exception for Lawful Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2024: Parliament of Australia
• Access to voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators: Medical Journal of Australia
• Attorney-General must act on telehealth and voluntary assisted dying: AMA
• State of VAD 2024: Go Gentle Australia
• Voluntary assisted dying five-year review: Victoria Department of Health
• Access to voluntary assisted dying in Australia requires fair remuneration for medical practitioners: Medical Journal of Australia
• Introducing Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Lessons on Pragmatic Ethics and the Implementation of a Morally Contested Practice: HEC Forum
• Barriers to connecting with the voluntary assisted dying system in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative mixed method study: Health Expectations
• Victoria scraps ‘gag clause’ banning doctors from raising voluntary assisted dying with patients: The Guardian
• People with dementia aren’t currently eligible for voluntary assisted dying. Should they be?: The Conversation
• Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying: QUT Research Project
• Carr v Attorney General (Cth) [2023] FCA 1500: Judgment