NT VAD Bill 30 years in the waiting
Go Gentle welcomes the long-awaited Northern Territory Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill, but questions the inclusion of retrograde steps against expert advice.
The NT government's announcement that it will introduce the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Bill to parliament this week is a welcome development 30 years in the making.
Territorians have been awaiting the return of their democratic right to decide the VAD issue ever since it was taken away from them by the federal parliament in 1997.
However, Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby’s statement today that ‘people seeking to access VAD would have to be the ones to explicitly raise it with their doctors and must have been given a prognosis of 12-months or less to live’, raises concerns about the content of the Bill.
Both the parliamentary inquiry and the Independent Expert Panel established to advise on the best VAD law for the NT, explicitly recommended:
- Removal of prognosis timeframes
- No ‘gag clause’
The 6-12-months prognostic timeframe was rejected by the ACT, having examined evidence from around Australia of the harms it creates.
It was originally intended to ensure that people eligible for VAD were close to the end of their life, but in practice it creates a cruel barrier that means some dying and suffering Australians are effectively told to come back when their condition has worsened and their suffering is sufficiently severe.
Equally, the government’s decision to limit doctor conversations about VAD takes the Territory in the opposite direction to the rest of the country. It is out of step with accepted medical standards and has been rejected by the NT branch of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
“Patients are entitled to be provided information and be aware of what their treatment options are, and doctors need to be able to raise voluntary assisted dying during discussion about end-of-life options," the RACGP said.
There is no beneficial reason for the gag clause restriction. It disadvantages people with less health literacy or from non-English speaking backgrounds.
It’s like a doctor saying to someone with cancer, ‘I can give you pills’ but not talking to them about the option of surgery.
In 2025, the Victorian parliament voted to remove this prohibition, and South Australia is expected to do the same.
All other jurisdictions allow health practitioners to discuss VAD with their patients along with other end-of-life and palliative care options.
Why is the Finocchiaro government taking VAD rights backwards when the evidence clearly shows that there is no benefit? Is it because of pressure by groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) who are determined to restrict access to VAD at all costs?
The Finocchiaro government has had a golden opportunity to listen to expert advice, and to learn from the experiences of other jurisdictions, to give Territorians the best possible VAD law. Instead, they have gone against both.
Go Gentle urges MPs to resist efforts to push the Bill through without the thorough examination that has happened in every other parliament. MPs must ensure the NT is not saddled with a sub-standard VAD law that creates unnecessary harm and prioritises the beliefs of a few over the needs of many.
The Bill will be introduced to parliament on Thursday 23 July and will return in August for debate and a final vote. The ABC reports all 17 Country Liberal Party (CLP) MLAs will support the the bill, with the chief minister confirming it has the numbers regardless of opposition or crossbench support.
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