Fourteen people have died by voluntary assisted dying in the first three months of the ACT scheme. Source: Canberra Times.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith updated the ACT Legislative Assembly on the scheme yesterday, which came into effect on November 3, 2025.
The Federal Parliament blocked the ACT and Northern Territory from legislating on euthanasia from March 1997 until December 2022.
To access voluntary assisted dying in the ACT, a person must complete 10 steps. The first is making a request.
The shortest length of time between someone’s first request and taking the medication was five days. The average timeframe was 18 days.
Unlike some other states, the ACT does not have a mandatory minimum timeframe between a person requesting VAD and taking the medication.
Since December, 87 people have registered for VAD, 61 had a first request accepted by a doctor or nurse practitioner and 43 were assessed as eligible by two practitioners.
Of these, 12 died with medication administered by an authorised VAD health professional and two administered it themselves.
Of those who registered for voluntary assisted dying, the youngest was 43 and the oldest was 103. Forty per cent were aged 80 or older and the most common underlying condition was cancer.
Doctors and nurse practitioners must complete training to become authorised to assist in the voluntary assisted dying assessment and administration process.
So far, 36 health professionals have become authorised. Of those, 15 medical practitioners and 5 nurse practitioners can perform all roles.
FULL STORY
Fourteen people access voluntary assisted dying in first three months (By Lanie Tindale, Canberra Times)
