Voluntary Assisted Dying Law

Dying with Dignity Tasmania played a significant role in getting voluntary assisted dying legislation passed in Tasmania in 2021 after many years of lobbying and working with members of Parliament, including Mike Gaffney MLC, who worked very hard for this law.

The law is called the End-of-life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021.

The legislation received overwhelming support by both Houses of the Tasmanian Parliament and was finally passed in March 2021. Tasmania became the third State, after Victoria and WA, to pass a voluntary assisted dying law.  Since then, South Australia and Queensland have followed suit and NSW is hopefully next.  

There are many similarities between the laws but also some differences.  For example, the Tasmanian law took into account ways to improve on the Victorian law based on their experience. You can find summaries of all the States’ laws at https://www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/resources.

The Tasmanian law comes into operation by 23 October 2022.  Dying with Dignity Tasmania continues to be actively involved with a representative on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Stakeholder Reference Group.  The provides advice on the many different arrangements that need to be ready for the law to come into effect so that legal voluntary assisted dying choice becomes a reality for Tasmanians.

The Department of Health (Tasmania) is responsible for implementing the law.  Detailed up to date information is available from the Department through the website - https://www.health.tas.gov.au/health-topics/voluntary-assisted-dying.  

It is also possible to get regular updates by emailing vad@health.tas.gov.au with ‘subscribe’ as the subject.

The law is to be reviewed after three years of operation.  

DWDTas will be closely watching what happens in practice and to identify and take action when we see problems for people wanting to access voluntary assisted dying choice.  We will aim to get improvements at the time of the review.

View End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021 →

Wondering how you can get involved with Dying With Dignity Tasmania?

There are numerous ways to help, including becoming a member, joining the committee or donating to DWD Tasmania.

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