Tara Cheyne | ACT voluntary assisted dying laws must be different.

After 25 years of being banned from legislating for voluntary assisted dying, it was an historic day. We immediately got to work on what a scheme could be for the ACT.

Voluntary assisted dying is a safe and effective medical process that promotes the autonomy and dignity of eligible individuals, by giving them the option to end their suffering, with the support of health professionals and services, by choosing to die through the administration of an approved substance.

It is not a choice between life or death. Nor is it an alternative to, nor does it detract from, palliative care.

All Australian states have now legislated and operationalised a voluntary assisted dying scheme-except for NSW, where the scheme becomes operational at the end of November.

Being a territory banned from legislating for voluntary assisted dying is nothing short of unenviable, but the silver lining has been that as each state has legislated, we have been able to observe the consultations, the development of legislation, and the operation of voluntary assisted dying schemes.

As the seventh jurisdiction to legislate, it may seem more straightforward to have simply adopted another state's model.

But it would have been a disservice to Canberrans - and the workableness of the scheme - if we did not consider and respond to the known lessons of other jurisdictions, together with the ACT's unique circumstances and the views of our community.

And so, our consultation began in February with a discussion paper and series of questions. It concluded in April, with thousands of Canberrans having their say. Since our report on what we heard was released in June, we have been refining our model, taking an evidence-based approach.

As I introduce the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023 today, we begin our next chapter.

I pay tribute to and dedicate this bill to those who long wished to see territory rights restored, and voluntary assisted dying debated, but died before witnessing this Bill be introduced.

Throughout its development, I have been guided by three objectives: that it promotes and protects human rights; that it has necessary safeguards without being unduly burdensome; and that it has the support of the clinical community.

The model proposed in the bill has many aspects which reflect the states' legislation, and that we heard support for. This includes several eligibility criteria, all of which must be met to have access.

As with other jurisdictions, an individual must undergo a multi-step request and assessment process, with the assessment conducted by two independent and suitably qualified, trained and authorised health professionals.

Like the states, the bill does not mandate that anyone take part in voluntary assisted dying. Health professionals and health service providers may choose their own level of involvement in the scheme to reflect their values and beliefs.

However, unlike the states, the bill establishes minimum standards that must be followed by individuals and organisations that conscientiously object to or cannot assist with voluntary assisted dying.

A health practitioner can refuse to participate in certain aspects of the VAD process, as long as they give the individual contact details for the Care Navigator Service. An individual who is a resident of a care facility cannot have their access to VAD hindered by the facility operator, or by being a resident of the facility. We heard strong support for these minimum standards in our consultation.

In our proposed scheme, health professionals will be able to initiate conversations about voluntary assisted dying but must ensure the person also knows about the treatment and palliative care options available to them, and the likely outcomes of those options.

Nurse practitioners with relevant experience will be able to be one of the two authorised assessing health professionals, as long as the other is a medical practitioner.

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Our proposed model does not require an individual's eligible condition to be expected to cause their death within a prescribed timeframe. A prescribed timeframe has been a key issue and concern in the operation of the states' schemes as being arbitrary and difficult to predict, together with some illnesses causing severe suffering but not having a clear trajectory. An individual will still be required to have been assessed as having a condition is advanced where their functioning and quality of life have declined, any treatments are no longer beneficial, and they are in the last stages of their life.

It has been a personal and professional honour to have led the development of this legislation.

Because, ultimately, voluntary assisted dying is about dignity, autonomy and more choice at the end of a person's life.

This bill achieves that for our community.