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  4. I have dementia. Can I apply for VAD?
What is voluntary assisted dying? Is voluntary assisted dying the same as euthanasia? Is voluntary assisted dying legal in Australia? I live in the NT or ACT. Can I access voluntary assisted dying? Who can use voluntary assisted dying in Australia? How can I find out more about voluntary assisted dying laws in my state? I am terminally ill and want to find out more about voluntary assisted dying. Who can I contact? I have dementia. Can I apply for VAD? I'm a doctor. How can I learn more about voluntary assisted dying in my state? What other end-of-life options are available? What is the assessment process for voluntary assisted dying? How long does the voluntary assisted dying application take? How much does voluntary assisted dying cost? Does voluntary assisted dying affect insurance payouts? Can I die at home with voluntary assisted dying? Can I travel between states to use voluntary assisted dying somewhere else? Is voluntary assisted dying safe? Can I talk about voluntary assisted dying with my doctor? How can I talk about voluntary assisted dying with my family? Is voluntary assisted dying the same as suicide? What does the Australian public think about voluntary assisted dying? How many people use voluntary assisted dying laws in Australia?

I have dementia. Can I apply for VAD?

Answer

Only if you satisfy all other criteria, including having another terminal illness such as cancer that is likely to end your life within a year. There are two main reasons why dementia on its own is not an eligible condition for VAD in Australia.

1. Decision-making ability. One of the main reasons is the need for decision-making capacity, something that the vast majority of people with dementia lose over the course of their illness. For someone to be eligible for VAD in Australia, they have to be able to make informed decisions about their medical treatment and communicate those decisions throughout the process. This isn’t just a ‘tick-a-box’ exercise – it’s a key principle of VAD under existing laws. It is to make sure that the serious decision to use VAD is truly voluntary, carefully considered, and consistent over time.

2. Approaching the end of life. Another reason is that VAD in Australia is intended only for people at the very end of life. In most states, this means two qualified medical practitioners must agree that the person has a terminal illness and has only 6 or 12 months left to live. Even in the ACT, where there’s no set time frame in the VAD law, two medical practitioners must still agree that the person is ‘approaching the end of life’. For someone newly diagnosed with dementia, death may be years – sometimes even a decade – away.

Read more about the complexity of VAD and dementia here