Euthanasia debate: NSW Parliament to consider drafted legislation on assisted dying

Updated

New South Wales is a step closer to allowing terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives, with a draft bill with cross-party support being released today.

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill has been drafted by a parliamentary working group made up of members from the Coalition, Labor, Greens and an independent.

The draft bill would give a person over the age of 25 the right to request assistance from a medical practitioner to end their life.

They must be experiencing severe pain or physical incapacity, and be likely to die within 12 months.

Patients must be assessed by their primary doctor, then a specialist, as well as a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Patients would then be allowed to self-administer a lethal substance to end their lives. They may also be assisted by a medical practitioner or nominated person.

The process would include a cooling-off period of 48 hours, which starts once a request for assistance certificate has been completed.

The bill would also enable a close relative of the patient to apply to the Supreme Court for a judicial review.

MPs optimistic about parliamentary support

Nationals MP Trevor Khan said it was a cautious bill with "a range of safeguards to meet the inevitable criticisms that a bill such as this will face when it's introduced into Parliament".

"I'm expecting that we'll be treated thoughtfully and that the issue, as a whole, will be free of the politics that can infest these debates," he said.

He said he would urge his parliamentary colleagues to think of their own family members and vote with their conscience.

Mr Khan said assisted-dying legislation had significant public support.

"The overwhelming majority of Australians and people who live in NSW want some action on this subject," he said.

Labor MP Lynda Voltz said politicians needed to listen to community support for end-of-life legislation.

"I go and walk my dog and people talk to me about it, I go out to community meetings and people talk about it," she said.

"There is a lot of community support out there for a bill of this nature and parliaments can no longer stick their head in the sand and ignore that community expectation."

Ms Voltz said it had taken about 12 months to create a draft bill "that meets the community's expectations, legal expectations and medical expectations".

The legislation will face a conscience vote when it's finalised and then introduced to State Parliament.

Topics: state-parliament, euthanasia, nsw, sydney-2000

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