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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-15 Daily Xml
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Voluntary Assisted Dying

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:48): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney please inform the council about the release of the first voluntary assisted dying quarterly report?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:48): I have previously updated the chamber on aspects of the voluntary assisted dying scheme in SA. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act is committed to the Minister for Health, but I have been very pleased to provide support as I can as Attorney-General with some of the legal matters and, having been involved in the development of the bill, I paid very close attention to how it is working.

I am pleased to share with the council that on 7 June, last week, South Australia's first voluntary assisted dying quarterly report was released since the laws came into operation at the end of January this year. The inaugural report has been published by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board and highlights the impacts of the recently commenced laws in helping South Australians with a terminal illness choosing to die with dignity.

The report indicates that the VAD laws have received positive feedback from people as they undertake the steps to access the VAD process, and also from their loved ones, particularly regarding the holistic support offered through VAD services and the comfort and control offered to suffering patients.

From the time these laws commenced operation in South Australia on 31 January 2023 up until 30 April this year (the time the report refers to), 28 South Australians received a voluntary assisted dying permit. Of those permit holders, 11 passed away as a result of administering the VAD substance and one person passed away without using the prescribed substance.

We see from global experience, but more particularly from Australian jurisdictions that have had VAD operating for some time, that about one-third of people who are approved in a VAD scheme don't end up using the substance but pass away as a result of whatever was the underlying cause, the majority of which is some form of cancer. Those who don't use the substance regularly report that the palliative effect of knowing it is there helps with dealing with their end-of-life experiences.

Those 11 permit holders who passed away from the VAD substance were between the ages of 40 and 90. The report indicates that of those 12 permit holders, seven were suffering from terminal cancer and five had some form of neurodegenerative condition. The review board also reports that eight people self-administered the substance, while the remaining three were supported in the administration process by a medical practitioner, as contemplated by the legislation.

In the three months that the laws have been operating in South Australia, on average the length of time between a person making the first request to access VAD and receiving an outcome on the application has been 25 days. For all 28 permit applications the report published indicates that the Chief Executive of the Department for Health and Wellbeing provided a decision within the three-day time frame required by the legislation.

The report further indicates that as of 30 April there were 60 medical practitioners in South Australia who have completed the mandatory VAD training, with a further 45 registered or part way through that training. Of these practitioners, 71 per cent practise primarily in metropolitan Adelaide and 29 per cent are based primarily in regional South Australia.

The report is a pleasing indication of the quality of service provision and support being provided through this pathway to applicants, their families and loved ones, with some of the following quotes shared in the report:

The whole process was carried out with the utmost care and compassion, everyone involved was absolutely wonderful and made things as easy as possible for us

And:

The doctor's visit was more than we could have hoped for, she was kind and compassionate as well as being professional and respectful of my husband's wishes. At each visit it was stipulated that my husband was in control of this process and could stop it at any time if he chose.

Many advocates and experts involved in helping this law come to fruition have had their confidence reinforced that the many safeguards included in the legislation are successfully operating to ensure that only those eligible can access VAD and that vulnerable people are protected from coercion or any form of exploitation.

As people in the chamber know from the discussions that happened a couple of years ago, it was a momentous achievement when voluntary assisted dying laws passed in the last parliament. I would like to thank the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board Presiding Member, Associate Professor Melanie Turner, and all other members of the review board, the Minister for Health, Chris Picton, and the staff and clinicians involved in supporting those patients and families throughout the voluntary assisted dying pathway, as well as the advocates who worked so tirelessly to make these laws a reality.

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