Voluntary Assisted Dying

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:53): Supplementary: I thank the minister for that update, but can I ask the minister whether there have been any concerns raised in the report about the return of the substance that was not used by permit holders?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:53): I am not aware of any concerns that have been raised about the return of the substance. As I said, of the 12 people who have passed away, 11 used the substance and one passed away from their underlying condition without using the substance. I am not aware that there have been any problems with the return of the substance on that one occasion.

The South Australian regime, much like the Victorian regime, has a nominated person who is responsible in cases where a substance needs to be returned, and there are very strict regulations about how the substance is securely stored by the person to whom the permit applies.

I am not aware of any occasions in schemes that have operated so far in Australia—and schemes have been up and running in Victoria for some five years I think, at least 18 months in WA, and I think Queensland also started in January. I have not checked, but I am not aware.

If there were concerns, it would probably be raised that there had been any problems with the return of the substance. In the whole scheme in Victoria, I think there were some 68 safeguards, which included having a responsible person for the return of the substance. When we passed legislation in this chamber, we added a few more of those. I think it is 71 or 72 separate safeguards, three or four more in addition to Victoria.