Statutory review of the VAD Act 2019 (WA)
Professor Lindy Willmott, Professor Ben White and Casey Haining were engaged by the Western Australian government to undertake research with key stakeholders to inform the legislatively-mandated review of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019 (WA).
Their Research Report informed the Review Panel’s recommendations for VAD reform in Western Australia.
Research briefings
- How best to regulate voluntary assisted dying in Australia
- Do people know that voluntary assisted dying is now legal in Queensland?
- Insights from Queensland’s implementation of voluntary assisted dying
- How patients and caregivers influence voluntary assisted dying systems
- Commonwealth teleheath ban is an unfair barrier to seeking voluntary assisted dying
- Voluntary assisted dying is legal – but some people are unsure how to access it
- Barriers and facilitators to accessing VAD – family perspectives
- Harms to patients caused by institutions objecting to voluntary assisted dying
- Harms caused by institutional objections to medical assistance in dying: Ongoing challenges and catalysts for change
- Navigating change: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Canada’s Assisted Dying Amendments
Policy documents
- Navigating the topic of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Advance Care Planning Conversations: Guiding Principles for Health Professionals
- Navigating the topic of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Advance Care Planning Conversations: Guiding Principles for Health and Aged Care Organisations
- Navigating the topic of Voluntary Assisted Dying in Advance Care Planning Conversations: Consumer Fact Sheet
Research impact
Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott’s research has been influential in shaping voluntary assisted dying law, implementation and practice in Australia. Aspects of their model voluntary assisted dying Bill have been adopted by various states, and their team (including Dr Eliana Close and Ruthie Jeanneret) designed and delivered the mandatory training for health practitioners in Victoria and Western Australia.
Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott’s work has been particularly significant in shaping voluntary assisted dying reform in Queensland. This story traces the impact of their research on the reform process over the last three years leading to the passing of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (Qld).
More information about the impact of their wider research on end-of-life law, policy and practice is available on the end of life law website.
Learn Me Right in VAD podcast series
The Future Fellowship team’s research has been featured in the Learn Me Right podcast series, hosted by Ruthie Jeanneret and Sinead Prince:
This series is sponsored by the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at QUT.
- Prologue
- Episode one – An overview of VAD in Australia (Professor Lindy Willmott)
- Episode two – Patients’ experience of VAD (Professor Ben White)
- Episode three – Lessons from Victoria and WA, remuneration, and regional access (Casey Haining)
- Episode four – VAD across the states (Katherine Waller)
- Episode five – The Commonwealth Criminal Code and telehealth (Dr Katrine Del Villar)
- Episode six – Institutional objection (Dr Eliana Close)
- Episode seven – Lessons from Belgium (Madeleine Archer)
- Episode eight – Doctors’ perspectives on involvement in VAD (Dr Laura Ley Greaves)
- Episode nine – How patients and families influence change (Ruthie Jeanneret)
- Episode ten – Training for clinicians (Penny Neller and Rachel Feeney)
- Epilogue
Prologue
Episode 1 – Learn Me Right in VAD: An overview of VAD in Australia (Professor Lindy Willmott)
Professor Lindy Willmott gives an overview of how VAD laws came to be in Australia, including how early empirical work from interviews with Victorian doctors helped inform law reform processes in other Australian states:
Additional material
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Willmott, Lindy, White, Ben P, Sellars, Marcus, & Yates, Patsy M (2021) Participating doctors’ perspectives on the regulation of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a qualitative study. Medical Journal of Australia, 215(3), pp. 125-129.
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White, Ben & Willmott, Lindy (2019) A Model Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill. Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, 7(2), pp. 1-47.
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Willmott, Lindy, White, Ben, Stackpoole, Christopher, Purser, Kelly, & McGee, Andrew (2016) (Failed) Voluntary Euthanasia Law Reform in Australia: Two Decades of Trends, Models and Politics. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 39(1), pp. 1-46.
Episode 2 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Patients’ experience of VAD (Professor Ben White)
Professor Ben White gives an update on barriers and facilitators of access to VAD from recent interviews with Victorian families and a patient who had been through the VAD process:
Additional material
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Access to voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators. Medical Journal of Australia, 219(5), pp. 211-217.
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Voluntary assisted dying can be hard to access but system supports can help (Research briefing).
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White, Ben P, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) The impact on patients of objections by institutions to assisted dying: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions. BMC Medical Ethics, 24, Article no. 22.
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Harms to patients caused by institutions objecting to voluntary assisted dying (Research briefing).
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Barriers to connecting with the voluntary assisted dying system in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative mixed method study. Health Expectations (Early Online).
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Voluntary assisted dying is legal – but some people are unsure how to access it (Research Briefing).
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Finding support to seek voluntary assisted dying: Information for consumers and caregivers.
Episode 3 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Lessons from Victoria and WA, remuneration, and regional access (Casey Haining)
Research Fellow Casey Haining discusses how the Victorian approach was evaluated and adapted for the WA legislation, and the pertinent issues of remuneration for practitioners and regional access:
Additional material
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Haining, Casey M, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben P (2023) Accessing voluntary assisted dying in regional Western Australia: early reflections from key stakeholders, Rural and Remote Health, 23(4), Article no. 8024.
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Haining, Casey M, Willmott, Lindy, Towler, Simon, & White, Ben P (2022) Access to voluntary assisted dying in Australia requires fair remuneration for medical practitioners, Medical Journal of Australia, 218(1), pp. 8-10.
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Willmott, Lindy, Haining, Casey M, & White, Ben P (2022) Facilitating regional and remote access to voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia: targeted initiatives during the law-making and implementation stages of reform, Rural and Remote Health, 23(1), Article no. 7522.
Episode 4 – Learn Me Right in VAD: VAD across the states (Katherine Waller)
Project Manager Katherine Waller provides a comparison of the Australian VAD laws across the states and highlights the universal requirement for participating practitioners to undertake mandatory training in the law:
Additional material
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Waller, Katherine, Del Villar, Katrine, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben (2023) Voluntary assisted dying in Australia: A comparative and critical analysis of state laws. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 46(4), pp. 1-45. (In Press).
Episode 5 – Learn Me Right in VAD: The Commonwealth Criminal Code and telehealth (Dr Katrine Del Villar)
Dr. Katrine Del Villar explores how the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 prohibition on using a carriage service (i.e., telehealth) to discuss “suicide” and state Voluntary Assisted Dying laws interact to create a unique and difficult problem for Australians accessing VAD:
Additional material (on residence):
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Del Villar, Katrine, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben (2023) The Exclusion of Long-term Australian Residents from Access to Voluntary Assisted Dying: A Critique of the ‘Permanent Resident’ Eligibility Criterion. Monash University Law Review, 49(2). (In Press)
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Del Villar, Katrine & Simpson, Amelia (2022) Voluntary Assisted Dying for (Some) Residents Only: Have States Infringed s 117 of the Constitution? Melbourne University Law Review, 45(3).
Additional material (on the Commonwealth Criminal Code):
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Del Villar, Katrine, Close, Eliana, Hews, Rachel, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben (2022) Voluntary assisted dying and the legality of using a telephone or internet service: The impact of Commonwealth ‘Carriage Service’ offences. Monash University Law Review, 47(1), pp. 125-173.
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Del Villar, Katrine, White, Ben P., Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2022) Voluntary Assisted Dying by Practitioner Administration Is Not Suicide: A Way Past the Commonwealth Criminal Code? Journal of Law and Medicine, 29(1), pp. 129-141.
Episode 6 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Institutional objection (Dr Eliana Close)
Dr. Eliana Close discusses institutional objections to VAD in Canadian and Australian VAD systems, and how this impacts patients seeking access to VAD, and providing practitioners:
Additional material
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Close, Eliana, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Downie, Jocelyn, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben P (2023) A qualitative study of experiences of institutional objection to medical assistance in dying in Canada: ongoing challenges and catalysts for change. BMC Medical Ethics, 24, Article no. 71.
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Close, Eliana, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Downie, Jocelyn, Willmott, Lindy, & White, Ben P (2023) Harms caused by institutional objections to medical assistance in dying: Ongoing challenges and catalysts for change: Research briefing.
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White, Ben P, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) The impact on patients of objections by institutions to assisted dying: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions. BMC Medical Ethics, 24, Article no. 22.
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White, Ben, Jeanneret, Ruthie, Close, Eliana, & Willmott, Lindy (2023) Harms to patients caused by institutions objecting to voluntary assisted dying: Research briefing.
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White, Ben, Willmott, Lindy, Close, Eliana, & Downie, Jocelyn (2021) Legislative Options to Address Institutional Objections to Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia. University of New South Wales Law Journal Forum, 2021(3), pp. 1-19.
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Close, Eliana, Willmott, Lindy, Keogh, Louise Anne, & White, Ben (2023) Institutional Objection to Voluntary Assisted Dying in Victoria, Australia: An Analysis of Publicly Available Policies. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.
Episode 7 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Lessons from Belgium (Madeleine Archer)
Doctoral Candidate Madeleine Archer provides an overview of the assisted dying model in Belgium, considers some similarities and differences with the Australian approach, and highlights some insights and lessons for Australia:
Additional material
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Archer, Madeleine, Willmott, Lindy, Chambaere, Kenneth, Deliens, Luc, & White, Ben (2023) Mapping Sources of Assisted Dying Regulation in Belgium: A Scoping Review of the Literature OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying 0(0), pp. 1-24.
Episode 8 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Doctors’ perspectives on involvement in VAD (Dr Laura Ley Greaves)
Dr. Laura Ley Greaves, a medical practitioner, discusses the importance of considering doctors’ perspectives of providing VAD in Australia, including the emotional impacts of being involved as a VAD provider:
Episode 9 – Learn Me Right in VAD: How patients and families influence change (Ruthie Jeanneret)
Doctoral Candidate Ruthie Jeanneret, our very own podcast host, discusses the role of patients and families in influencing VAD regulation, drawing on insights from interviews with patients and families in Victoria and Canada:
Episode 10 – Learn Me Right in VAD: Training for clinicians (Penny Neller and Dr Rachel Feeney)
Project Manager Penny Neller and Dr. Rachel Feeney explain the importance and success of End-of-Life Law training for clinicians:
Additional material – for the public
- End of Life Law in Australia website
Additional material – for practitioners
- End of Life Law for Clinicians website.
- End of Life Law for Clinicians Training Curriculum brochure
- End of Life Law for Clinicians Indigenous Module brochure
- End of Life Law for Clinicians Diverse Populations Module brochure
- ELDAC End of Life Law Toolkit website
- ELDAC End of Life Law Toolkit brochure
Epilogue