The territory has joined all other states and the ACT in legalising voluntary assisted dying, but the legislation maintains two clauses that VAD advocates had fought to remove.
Voluntary assisted dying advocates have welcomed the passing of a bill legalising VAD in the Northern Territory late last week that brings the territory into line with all other states and the ACT.
However, the legislation maintains the “gag” clause that prevents doctors from initiating discussions about VAD, as well as the requirement that a person has less than 12 months to live to be eligible.
While the NT becomes the final Australian jurisdiction to legalised VAD, it joins South Australia as the only other state or territory with a VAD gag clause.
NT Health will have 18 months to implement the VAD reforms and a review will be conducted in three years.
The passage of the legislation comes more than 30 years after the territory became the first jurisdiction in Australia – and the world – to legalise VAD in 1995.
The NT’s VAD law was overturned two years later when the then Liberal federal government barred territories from legislating on euthanasia. That ban was lifted in 2022.
Debate over the bill had focussed on two amendments: removing the “gag” clause and removing the requirement that a person have an advanced, progressive, and terminal illness expected to cause death in less than 12 months.
Both of those proposed amendments were defeated by eight votes to 15.
Dr Linda Swan, CEO of VAD advocacy group Go Gentle, said the vote was “an historic moment for the Territory and for the country”.
The passing of the legislation was the culmination of a decades-long fight for democratic choice, Dr Swan said.
“We celebrate this achievement but also remember the many dying Territorians who suffered needlessly because they were denied this choice for so long.”
Broadcaster Andrew Denton, who founded Go Gentle in 2016, said he was disappointed that the amendments were voted down.
“People who want VAD should not face barriers to accessing their lawful choice and doctors should not be gagged from offering their patients information about all treatment options,” Mr Denton said.
“Unfortunately, experience shows that this law will need to be revisited and repaired in the years ahead.
“But, right now, today is a day to celebrate what Territorians have finally regained.
“The work to make sure the law operates fairly and compassionately now lies ahead. Let’s hope the NT government shows genuine commitment to the task.”
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Distinguished Professor Ben White from Queensland University of Technology said the passing of VAD law in the NT was part of “a remarkable law reform that has swept across the country”.
“The focus for the Northern Territory now becomes implementation and how to ensure that the new voluntary assisted dying system is safe and accessible,” he said.
But Professor White said federal issues would need to be addressed, such as how practitioners were funded and the use of telehealth to access VAD.
“The evidence shows that Australian voluntary assisted dying systems are operating safely.
“But ongoing work is needed to address barriers such as institutional objection or lack of community knowledge to ensure that this choice is available for those who want it.”
Chief minister Lia Finocchiaro said the vote was “a historic moment” for the Northern Territory.
“The Finocchiaro CLP Government is proud to have developed and delivered voluntary assisted dying so that Territorians have choice,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (MLAs) raised concerns in parliament yesterday regarding access to VAD, particularly for people in remote areas.
Labor MLA Selena Uibo said some NT residents only had access to one aged care facility that may be run by a religious institution which was, by default, a conscientious objector.
“Which means that any resident in that facility would automatically be dismissed in terms of being able to ask for information as a resident in that institution,” she said.
Ms Uibo argued yesterday that the gag clause should be removed “to ensure that regardless of who runs that facility or that institute, that they still have the equal rights to access information”.
Labor MLA Dheran Young agreed, saying that residents should be given the right to access VAD information.
“If you have a patient who is crook and cannot be moved from their facility and is in one-clinic town, what will you do?” Mr Young told parliament yesterday.
“You have somebody who is elderly, dying and in Tennant Creek and has nowhere to go. Now, you are denying them the right to even have a doctor visit them and talk to them about VAD?
“This is not even including if they raised it and said, ‘I want to talk about this’. If the facility says no, that is it. You will have to figure out how to get that person somewhere else. How on earth will you do that?”
