Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD)
Voluntary Assisted Dying or VAD refers to 'the legal administration of a lethal drug to a terminally ill person at the request of that person'. Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) is now legal in all Australian States (no law exists in Northern Territory at present). Under the State and ACT VAD laws, allied health professionals may have specific roles, and legal rights and obligations.
For up-to-date state based information on VAD visit End of Life Law in Australia.
The CareSearch Voluntary assisted dying page also summarises health worker information for each state.
Key points
- Only a medical physician can receive applications and assess eligibility for VAD.
- Except for Pharmacists, allied health professionals are not expected to undertake any additional training around VAD.
- Allied health professionals may be asked to consult with the person on VAD related matters e.g. a Psychologist may assess decision making capacity.
- Allied health professionals may be asked to provide strategies to optimize quality of life prior to VAD, or to support difficult conversations and bereavement.
- All allied health professionals and aged care provider can conscientiously object to participating in any part of the VAD process, but may still have legal obligations such as helping a person access VAD through alternative means.
- In most states, allied health professionals are not permitted to initiate conversations about VAD, but should be prepared to answer questions /provide information if requested of them.
- End of life conversations in any context, can be challenging and health professionals should reflect on their confidence in having these, as well as self-care strategies for debriefing after a difficult conversation.
Find out more in the ELDAC End of Life Law Toolkit Fact sheet: Voluntary assisted dying in aged care: Roles and obligations of allied health professionals and enrolled nurses (190kb pdf).