Euthanasia in Australia

Euthanasia is illegal in Australia but Australian states can legislate on the issue. It was legal for a period in the Northern Territory and in November 2017 legislation to allow assisted suicide passed the Parliament of Victoria but will not come into effect until mid-2019.^[1] A patient can elect not to receive any treatment for a terminal illness and can also elect to have their life support turned off.^[2]

History

Although it is a crime to assist in euthanasia, prosecutions have been rare. In 2010, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal quashed a manslaughter conviction of a Sydney woman who had previously been found guilty of killing her partner of 18 years with a euthanasia drug.^[3][4] In 2002, relatives and friends who provided moral support to an elderly woman who committed suicide were extensively investigated by police, but no charges were laid. The Commonwealth government subsequently tried to hinder euthanasia with the passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Materials Offences) Bill of 2004. In Tasmania in 2005 a nurse was convicted of assisting in the death of her elderly father, who had terminal cancer, and trying to kill her mother, who was in the early stages of dementia.^[5] She was sentenced to two and a half years in jail but the judge later suspended the conviction because he believed the community did not want the woman jailed. This sparked debate about decriminalising euthanasia.^[6] Decriminalisation of Euthanasia in Australia is supported by the Science Party,^[7] Australian Greens, the Secular Party of Australia, the Reason Party, and the Liberal Democratic Party.^[8]

In 2009 Shirley Justins and Caren Jennings, were found guilty of manslaughter and accessory to manslaughter respectively for providing Nembutal to former pilot Graeme Wylie in 2006. Justins stated that Wylie wanted to die "with dignity". The prosecution argued that Graeme Wylie did not have the mental capacity to make the crucial decision to end his life, classing it as involuntary euthanasia.^[9]

An omission to provide life-sustaining medical treatment is lawful in Australia, unless the patient is deemed mentally incapable of consent.^[10]

In 2011 the Supreme Court of New South Wales gave a two-year suspended sentence to a 66-year-old man who had facilitated the death of his long-term 78-year-old partner by helping her overdose on drugs and suffocating her. The deceased suffered from severe pain arising from a spinal condition. Furthermore, the deceased had expressed a wish to die in a suicide note written prior to her death. The court convicted the man of manslaughter. The court accounted for the accused’s substantial impairment at the time the act was committed as well the fact that he voluntarily revealed his involvement in the commission of the offence.^[11]

Exit International made TV ads arguing for voluntary euthanasia, which were banned just before they were scheduled to broadcast in September 2010.^[12]

In 2018 Liberal Democrats legislator David Leyonhjelm introduced a bill into the Senate to remove the federal ban on the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory legislating for euthanasia. The bill was given priority in the Senate and was subject to a conscience vote for both the Coalition Government and opposition Labor Party, though it was defeated at the second reading stage by 36 votes to 34.^[13]

Northern Territory

Australia states and territories' euthanasia legislation status (as of 2018):

  Euthanasia illegal

Euthanasia was legalised in Australia's Northern Territory, by the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. It passed by a vote of 15 to 10 and a year later, a repeal bill was brought before the Northern Territory Parliament in August 1996, but was defeated by 14 votes to 11.^[15] Soon after, the law was voided by the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cth),^[16] a statute of the Australian Parliament that amended the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978,^[17] the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth),^[18] and the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth),^[19] to remove the power of each of those territories to legalise euthanasia, and specifically to repeal the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT). The powers of the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and the Norfolk Island legislatures, unlike those of the State legislatures, are not guaranteed by the Australian constitution and may be amended or overruled by the Commonwealth. However, before the Commonwealth government made this amendment, three people had already died through physician assisted suicide under the legislation, aided by Dr Philip Nitschke. The first person was a carpenter, Bob Dent, who died on 22 September 1996. Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm attempted to repeal the Euthanasia Laws Act and in August 2018 introduced the Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015. The bill was rejected by the Senate by 36 votes to 34.^[13][20]

Tasmania

Philip Nitschke, an Australian physician and author, is a prominent international campaigner on euthanasia.

Tasmania came close to legalising voluntary euthanasia in November 2013, when a Greens-initiated voluntary euthanasia bill was narrowly defeated in the House of Assembly by a vote of 13-12. The bill would have allowed terminally ill Tasmanians to end their lives 10 days after making three separate requests to their doctor. Although both major parties allowed a conscience vote, all ten Liberals voted against the legislation, with Labor splitting seven in favour and three against, and all five Greens voting in favour.^[21]

South Australia

In November 2016, the South Australian House of Assembly narrowly rejected a private member's bill which would have legalised a right to request voluntary euthanasia in circumstances where a person is in unbearable pain and suffering from a terminal illness. The bill was the first ever euthanasia bill to pass a second reading stage (27 votes to 19) though the bill was rejected during the clauses debate of the bill (23 votes all, with the Speaker's casting vote against the bill).^[22]

Victoria

On 20 September 2017, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 was introduced into the Victorian Parliament by the Andrews Labor Government. The bill was modelled on the recommendations of an expert panel chaired by former Australian Medical Association president Professor Brian Owler.^[23] The bill passed the parliament, with amendments made in the Legislative Council, on 29 November 2017.^[24] In passing the bill, Victoria became the first state to legislate for voluntary assisted dying. The law received royal assent on 5 December 2017 and will come into effect in mid-2019.^[24][25]

New South Wales

On September 21, 2017 National Party MLC Trevor Khan introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 into the New South Wales Parliament. The Bill was modelled on the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, and was developed by a cross party working group that considered 72 "substantial" submissions.^[26] The Bill contained " a raft of safeguards" including a seven-person oversight board to review all assisted deaths.^[27] The upper house debated the bill throughout several sittings in November 2017, and on 16 November the bill was voted down 20 votes to 19.^[28]

Organisations

The euthanasia advocacy group YourLastRight.com^[29] is the peak organisation nationally representing the "Dying with Dignity" associations of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania,^[30] as well as the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES),^[31] the Western Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (WAVES)^[32] and the Northern Territory Voluntary Euthanasia Society (NTVES).^[33]

Exit International is an Australian euthanasia advocacy group founded by Philip Nitschke. Other Australian groups include Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia^[34] and Doctors for Voluntary Euthanasia Choice.^[35]

Australian institutions and organisations that oppose the legalisation of euthanasia include HOPE,^[36] Right to Life Australia^[37] and the Australian Catholic Church.^[38]

See also

• Culture of Australia
• Health care in Australia
• Oregon Death With Dignity Act
• California End of Life Option Act
• Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Victoria)
• Euthanasia in New Zealand

Notes

References

Further reading

• Bartels L, Otlowski M (February 2010). "A right to die? Euthanasia and the law in Australia". J Law Med. 17 (4): 532–55. PMID 20329456.
• Victoria's hub for health services and business - Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill