Voluntary assisted dying is lawful in all Australian states. This allows terminally ill adults who are suffering and have decision-making capacity to choose to receive help to die.
Victoria’s law was the first, coming into effect in 2019. New South Wales was the last state, with its voluntary assisted dying law beginning in late 2023.
Voluntary assisted dying will be allowed in the Australian Capital Territory in November, and a Northern Territory report has recommended it pass a voluntary assisted dying law too.
While the vast majority of Australians now live in jurisdictions where voluntary assisted dying is permitted, accessing voluntary assisted dying depends on knowing it’s a legal option. But new research suggests many Australians don’t know this.
A Study in Queensland
Voluntary assisted dying became legal in Queensland on January 1, 2023. Ben White, Rachel Feeney and Lindy Willmott conducted an online survey of 1,000 Queensland adults in mid-2024 to find out if the community knew about this new end-of-life choice. Only one-third (33%) of respondents thought voluntary assisted dying was legal in Queensland.
For more information, visit the article written by the research team in The Conversation.
