Politics

Senate to debate right of territories to enforce own euthanasia laws

Aug 14, 2018

Back in 1995 the Northern Territory became the first area in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying. Source: Getty.

Back in 1995 the Northern Territory became the first area in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying, however they had that right revoked just two years later when the federal government passed a law that banned the ACT and NT from legalising assisted suicide.

Now, on August 14 to 16, the Senate will debate a bill to restore the rights of the Northern Territory and the ACT to discuss and decide their own laws on euthanasia.

If the Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015 is passed on Thursday it will allow the parliaments of the ACT and NT to consider introducing their own legislation surrounding the controversial matter of voluntary assisted dying.

The bill was first introduced by New South Wales Senator David Leyonhjelm in December 2015. During a speech in the Senate, he said: “Legalisation of assisted suicide is long overdue in Australia. Opinion polls show more than 80% of Australians are in favour, across all political parties.

“It is high time governments accepted that on this deeply personal matter, their intrusion is not warranted. Despite what some people think, this is not about bumping off granny to inherit the house. Assisted suicide is simply helping someone to do something that they would do for themselves, if they were not so ill or feeble.“

Listen to former NT Chief Minister Marshall Perron speaking with Rev Bill Crews about the Restoring Territory Rights bill, that will soon be debated in Federal Parliament.
Please urge your Federal… https://t.co/1bNGFvgCLg

— Go Gentle Australia (@gogentle_aus) July 30, 2018

Go Gentle CEO Kiki Paul spoke to Starts at 60 about the importance of the historic Senate debate. She said: “The most important thing is to understand this is not a vote to reinstate the old law, which was revoked 21 years ago. This debate is about purely giving the Northern Territory and ACT back the right to be able to consider legislation.”

Paul also revealed that polling over the past decade has shown a huge amount of support for voluntary assisted dying across Australia, with around 80 per cent of people pledging their support for voluntary assisted dying.

“It’s clearly something that the whole of Australia is keen to have – or to at least have a discussion about it. Why is it that we can do that in all states, but territories are lesser citizens? Is that how it is?

“This is about putting in place legislation allowing representatives to have a discussion and make up their own minds based on what their constituents feel.”

Currently, Victoria is the area in Australia to have passed voluntary assisted dying laws with the legislation set to come into effect in 2019. It will offer a choice to competent adults with a terminal illness and six months or less to live. For those dying of neurodegenerative diseases, such as MND or MS, the time frame is extended to twelve months or less to live.

There are strict eligibility criteria that a patient must also meet, which include being over 18 years of age, having decisional capacity and they must raise the issue with a doctor themselves. Three formal requests must also be made, the second in writing, with the minimum timeframe between first request and opportunity to take the medication being ten days.