With five states and territories joining forces, pressure is mounting on the Commonwealth to respond.
Health ministers from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, and the ACT are calling on federal health minister Mark Butler and attorney-general Michelle Rowland to allow telehealth for lawful VAD care.
In an open letter issued last week, the ministers called for an end to the “continuing uncertainty” about practitioners’ use of telehealth services for VAD discussions.
In 2023, a federal court ruling determined “suicide” in the Commonwealth Criminal Code could include deaths occurring under lawful VAD legislation.
Under the act, discussing suicide-related matters over telehealth or video calls, including VAD consultations, is illegal, with doctors facing fines of up to $300,000.
“This is an issue of equity,” the open letter read.
For people in rural and remote areas, the state ministers said the choice was often between “substantial and costly travel on multiple occasions”, particularly when unwell, and “no access to choice”.
“Everybody, regardless of where they live, should have equal access to VAD,” the open letter read.
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The letter was issued following the Australian Labour Party’s 50th national conference in July this year, which supported reforms to the Criminal Code, despite prime minister Anthony Albanese personally opposing the motion.
“My concern is […] the potential for misuse, but also the potential that [VAD] has to undermine the system in itself,” he said in an ABC Insiders television interview in July.
“To be clear – the laws in each of our states and territories include substantial safeguards. Allowing telehealth for VAD will not reduce the safeguards that our laws already provide,” the letter read.
Outside the ACT, VAD is available only to people expected to die within six months, or within 12 months if they have a neurodegenerative condition.
Applicants must also generally be Australian citizens or permanent residents who have lived in the state for at least 12 months at the time of the first VAD request.
In Victoria and SA, medical practitioners may provide information about VAD only if a patient requests it. In WA, Tasmania, and the ACT, medical practitioners can raise VAD discussions but must also discuss treatment and palliative care options.
Practitioners who conscientiously object to VAD can refuse to provide information about it in Vic and SA, but in WA they must tell their patient immediately. In WA, Tasmania and the ACT, they must also provide contact details for services that offer VAD.
VAD national charity Go Gentle Australia CEO Dr Linda Swan congratulated state ministers for “keeping up the fight” and advocating for terminally ill Australians, who she said faced unnecessary barriers.
“It’s baffling that the federal government remains so resistant to a sensible change that would make an enormous difference to dying Australians,” she said.
While the federal attorney-general’s standard response was often that she was “working with the states and territories on the matter”, Dr Swan said the latest joint letter “appears to confirm this is not the case”.
The joint open letter follows similar calls for reform from Go Gentle, the AMA and the Australian College of Nursing.
