The architect of Australia’s first short-lived move to legalise voluntary euthanasia,former Northern Territory chief minister Marshall Perron,has previously said he believed the territory’s laws failed in the 1990s because it did not include a residential requirement.
Four people died via legal euthanasia before the NT’s laws were overriden by the Commonwealth in 1997.
“It seemed to me wrong somehow that if someone had been visiting the territory and took ill in some way and was in a bed with the same conditions as a Territorian,one entitled to voluntary euthanasia ... and the person in the bed next to them not,”Mr Perron said in 2019.
“I think that fact probably aggravated opponents in Canberra more than anything,it was stated that you have legislated for the whole of Australia.”
The issue has been on the agenda for years in Queensland and was subjected to ayear-long parliamentary inquiry before the Queensland Law Reform Commission’syear-long review.
To access the scheme in Queensland,people must be aged at least 18,have been diagnosed with a disease,illness or medical condition that is advanced,progressive and will cause death,be expected to die within 12 months,and be experiencing suffering the person considers to be intolerable.
The person must be separately and independently assessed by two doctors,they must have decision-making capacity and be acting voluntarily.
The process will include three separate requests,and there will be a waiting period of at least nine days between the first and final request.
The person must be told,more than once,that they may decide at any time not to continue.
If the person is eligible,their doctor must tell them about treatment options available,palliative care options and the potential risks of taking drugs for voluntary assisted dying.
Doctors and nurses who have a conscientious objection will have the right to not participate,but they will have to refer the person to a health provider who can assist.
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Both Labor and the LNP will allow their members a conscience vote.
The bill will be debated in September,and if passed,will come into effect in January 2023.
Queensland Law Reform Commission chair Justice Peter Applegarth said voluntary assisted dying provided an option that could limit suffering at the end of life.
“It is not a way to end life for those who are not dying,” he said.