Impact

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


Policy documents

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 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


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


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


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


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):

Additional material (on the Commonwealth Criminal Code):


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


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


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


Epilogue