States and territories refuse to give up fight for VAD telehealth reform
State and territory health ministers have again written to the Albanese Government urging it to remove federal restrictions on the use of telehealth in voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
In a joint letter dated 27 October 2026, health ministers from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and the ACT called on Federal Health Minister Mark Butler and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland to urgently amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to ensure lawful VAD services can be delivered as intended under state and territory legislation.
The ministers warn that people seeking VAD are being forced to travel long distances, sometimes on multiple occasions, while seriously unwell.
“For many people in our states and territories, access to VAD is restricted by where they live,” the ministers write.
“This is an issue of equity.”
Go Gentle Australia CEO Dr Linda Swan congratulated the ministers for continuing to push for reform.
“The states and territories understand what is at stake, and we congratulate them for keeping up the fight. What they are asking for is nothing more than what is already commonplace in other areas of health – the ability to use telehealth to provide safe, accessible care. This is about putting the needs of dying people first, rather than forcing them to navigate unnecessary barriers at the end of their lives.
“It's baffling that the Federal Government remains so resistant to a sensible change that would make an enormous difference to dying Australians.”
A growing push for change
The intervention is the latest in a growing campaign to remove a federal legal barrier that particularly disadvantages terminally ill Australians living in rural and remote communities.
The letter follows the Australian Labor Party's National Conference decision to support reform of the Criminal Code, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's previously stated opposition to changing the law.
It also builds on earlier calls for reform from a coalition of health and legal groups including the Australian Medical Association, Australian College of Nursing, the Australian Lawyers Allaince, VAD practitioners and Go Gentle Australia.
At the heart of the problem is a 2023 Federal Court ruling confirming that the definition of 'suicide' in the Commonwealth Criminal Code can include deaths occurring under lawful state VAD legislation.
The ruling has reinforced restrictions on practitioners using telehealth, telephone and other electronic communications for aspects of VAD care, even where state and territory laws would otherwise permit them.
Reform while keeping safeguards strong
The ministers are calling for a targeted amendment to clarify that conduct authorised under state or territory VAD legislation is excluded from the relevant meaning of 'suicide' in the Criminal Code. Australia’s suicide prevention leaders agree that VAD is not suicide and conflating the issues causes harm.
They argue the change would provide certainty for practitioners and allow VAD laws to operate as intended, without removing existing safeguards.
“Allowing telehealth for VAD will not reduce the safeguards that our laws already provide,” the ministers state.
Instead, it would help ensure people are not denied access to lawful end-of-life choices simply because of where they live.
With jurisdictions continuing to formally press the Federal Government to act, the message is clear: state and territory governments are not giving up on reform.
The ministers have offered to work with the Commonwealth on an appropriate legislative solution.
The question now is whether the Albanese Government will respond to this renewed call for change.