Professor Lindy Willmott

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Professor, Faculty of Business and Law

PhD (Queensland University of Technology), LLM (University of Cambridge), LLB (Hons) (University of Queensland), BCom (University of Queensland)

Lindy Willmott is a Professor of Law in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology. Professor Willmott is as an international expert in end-of-life law, having authored a substantial body of work in this area, including more than 75 book chapters and refereed journal articles about end-of-life decision-making. Professor Willmott has particular expertise in voluntary assisted dying (VAD). She has been engaged by various state governments to design mandatory VAD training programs and has been highly influential in the VAD law reform processes throughout Australia.

Professor Willmott graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and first class honours in Law from the University of Queensland, before obtaining a Master of Laws from Cambridge. She completed her PhD at QUT investigating advance directives and the refusal of life-sustaining treatment. Professor Willmott joined the QUT Law Faculty in 1986 and currently co-leads the End-of-Life program within the Australian Centre for Health Law research, having been a foundation Director of the Centre for six years (2013-2018). She has published extensively in health law, has supervised a number of PhD students in health law, and has taught health law in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Professor Willmott’s work is interdisciplinary, with a total of 197 publications spanning the disciplines of law, medicine, bioethics, social science and psychology. She has authored, co-authored or edited a number of leading texts in a wide range of legal topics.

A list of Professor Willmott’s publications and other outputs is available here: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Willmott,_Lindy.html

Keywords

  • Health law
  • Voluntary assisted dying
  • End-of-life decision-making
  • Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining measures
  • Advance directives
  • Advance care planning
  • Law reform
  • Medical law
  • Socio-legal research into medical decision-making

Major External Competitive Grants

  • Louise Keogh, Lindy Willmott and Julian Savulescu, ‘Reducing the harms associated with conscientious objection to abortion’, 2021-2025, ARC Discovery Project
  • Ben White, Lindy Willmott, Cheryl Tilse and Jill Wilson, ‘Enhancing community knowledge and engagement with law at the end of life’ 2014-2017, ARC Linkage Project
  • Lindy Willmott, Ben White, Cynthia Gallois, Malcolm Parker, Nicholas Graves, Sarah Winch, ‘Futile Treatment at the End of Life: Legal, Policy, Sociological and Economic Perspectives’, 2012-2014, ARC Linkage Project
  • Ben White, Lindy Willmott, Colleen Cartwright, Malcolm Parker and Gail Williams, ‘Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment from adults who lack capacity: The role of law in medical practice’, 2009–2012, ARC Linkage Project

Additional information

Experience

Recently, Professor Willmott has been heavily involved in developing end-of-life and VAD training programs for health workers and members of the community. Professor Willmott was engaged as Chief Investigator by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland Governments to design the mandatory VAD training in each of those jurisdictions. Professor Willmott is also currently involved in delivering a number of accessible end-of-life training programs and information forums, including the Commonwealth Government-funded End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) and End of Life Law for Clinicians (ELLC) which provide information, training and practical support to aged care providers, older Australians, clinicians and medical students. Professor Willmott (with Professor Ben White and Penny Neller) developed End of Life Law Australia, an online resource to provide accessible information on end-of-life law and decision-making to patients, families, health and legal practitioners, the media, policymakers and the broader community.

Professor Willmott is strongly committed to the translation of research into law, policy, and practice. In 2021 she co-authored a policy briefing summarising 20 years of her team’s VAD research. The work of Professor Willmott and her colleagues has been highly influential in the VAD law reform processes in all Australian states, especially Queensland. This work was explicitly referred to by a number of Queensland MPs in their second reading speeches, and the VAD model Bill drafted by Professor Willmott and Professor Ben White was referred to over 450 times in the Queensland Law Reform Commission’s Report (Report No 79, 2021).

In addition to her academic work at QUT, Professor Willmott has held a number of roles within the broader community. Professor Willmott sat on the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for 6 years, and has been a member of the Queensland Law Reform Commission in both a full-time and part-time capacity. Professor Willmott was also a member of Palliative Care Australia for 7 years from 2013 to 2020.

Research Projects

Title
Reducing the harms associated with conscientious objection to abortion
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
DP210102916
Start year
2021
Keywords
Abortion; Conscientious Objection; Health and Medical Law; Access to Health Care; Legal Issues; Health Sociology
Title
InterACT Trial: Reducing Non-Beneficial Treatment at the End-of-Life
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1151923
Start year
2018
Keywords
Health services research; Effectiveness study; Economic evaluation; Death and dying; Palliative
Title
Enhancing Community Knowledge and Engagement with Law at the End of Life
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
LP140100883
Start year
2015
Keywords
Health And Medical Law; End Of Life Decision-Making; Community Knowledge Of Law
Title
Centre for Research Excellence in End of Life Care
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1060254
Start year
2013
Keywords
Palliative Care; Supportive Care; Health Services Research; Terminal Care; Access to Health Care; Chronic Diseases; Legal Issues; Consumers; Capacity Building; Policy Development
Title
Futile treatment at the end of life: legal, policy, sociological and economic perspectives
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
LP120100096
Start year
2012
Keywords
Health Sociology; Health Communication; Law and Policy; Social Psychology
Title
Withholding and Withdrawing Life-sustaining Treatment from Adults Lacking Capacity: Enhancing Medical Decision-making Through Doctors Compliance with the Law
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
LP0990329
Start year
2010
Keywords
Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment; Medical Law; Adult Guardianship; Medical Training

Completed Supervisions (Doctorate)