Specially trained voluntary assisted dying care navigators have greatly improved access to assisted dying in Victoria, a patient experience study recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia has found. The study team, pictured above from left, Ruthie Jeanneret, Professor Ben White, Professor Lindy Willmott and Dr Eliana Close…
$30 million funding for QUT palliative care projects
QUT research projects have received nearly $30 million from Federal Government funding to fund palliative care projects. Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler announced a total of $68 million in funding for 14 National Palliative Care Projects, which included three QUT projects: $12.5 million for…
New book published: International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform
Much has been written about whether end-of-life law should change and what that law should be. However, the barriers and facilitators of such changes – law reform perspectives – have been virtually ignored. Why do so many attempts to change the law fail but others are successful? International…
Researchers guide voluntary assisted dying reform in Queensland
In September 2021, the Queensland Parliament passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (Qld), becoming the fifth Australian state to do so after Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia. Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott (pictured), from QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research, played a key…
Analysis of the 54 amendments proposed by David Janetzki MP to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 (Qld)
Analysis by Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT Our analysis of these proposed amendments include 5 key points: 1. It is difficult to know the consequences of the amendments The proposed amendments were delivered on the…
Qld voluntary assisted dying Bill deals with institutions’ objections
The Queensland Law Reform Commission’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill is the first in Australia to address objections by institutions, and has been welcomed by Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott from QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research. Ben and Lindy (pictured above) authored the original VAD Bill…
Two new PhD Scholarships: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying
Two PhD scholarships are available for this Australian Research Council Future Fellowship research project led by Professor Ben White. It is intended that the PhD candidates would work primarily on the comparative case studies of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) regulation in Canada and Belgium (where VAD has been…
Queensland Parliamentary Committee endorses Willmott and White recommendations for voluntary assisted dying reform
A Queensland Parliamentary Committee recently handed down its Report on Voluntary Assisted Dying. Recommendation One of that report was that the Queensland Government should introduce legislation to legalise voluntary assisted dying based on draft legislation submitted to the Committee by Professors Lindy Willmott and Ben White. The Chair…
Law-making about voluntary assisted dying must be based on reliable evidence
The Queensland Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee will shortly deliver its report about voluntary assisted dying. The key question is whether or not the law should be changed to permit voluntary assisted dying. If the Committee recommends reform, its report will be…
Professor Ben White secures ARC Future Fellowship
Professor Ben White, from QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR), is one of four QUT researchers named as Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellows. Ben will receive $932,498 to investigate enhancing end-of-life care through a new and holistic regulatory framework. Current regulations are complex and fragmented…