“Victoria’s Assisted Dying Laws Need Updating”

Following the media attention from Cherryl Barassi’s story, The Age received multiple letters from the public, one of which was from our President, Jane Morris. Her letter can be found in the images below.

On June 15th, The Age published an editorial piece discussing Victoria’s VAD laws in response to public letters.

The piece discussed that whilst Victoria was once a “trailblazer” for assisted-dying legislation, it has now “…fallen behind other jurisdictions with such laws…”

Our organisation was mentioned in the article regarding our advocacy to remove the strict eligibility criterion of a six-month prognosis for voluntary assisted dying

Current Victorian legislation only allows patients to acccess VAD if they have a prognosis of six months (or 12 months for those with neurodegenerative diseases). This criterion poses significant limitations, as many individuals may lose decision-making capacity before reaching this stage, thus hindering their access to VAD

”A few important amendments will make the world of difference to the sickest among us, including those who feel forced to die by suicide or live longer than they wish due to unnecessary hurdles.”

DWDV calls for legislative reform and for widening of the eligibility criteria. Far too many individuals are left to suffer when they shouldn’t be.

To read the full article click here or to read some more excerpts from this piece, please visit our Instagram or Facebook.

Note: The article is behind a paywall