❓ Mr. Millman asks the Minister for Health for an update on the implementation of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in WA. The Minister provides data on practitioner training, patient demographics, diagnoses, and geographic distribution, highlighting the government's investment in both VAD and palliative care.
AnsweredQoN 419Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
VOLUNTARY ASSISTED DYING
419. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's historic decision to introduce voluntary assisted dying,
which, from 1 July last year, has provided
eligible terminally ill Western Australians the opportunity to die with
dignity. Nearing the one-year anniversary of this significant reform,
can the minister update the house on the implementation of voluntary assisted
dying, including the partnership between clinicians, patients and their loved
ones, and can the minister outline to the
house how access to VAD has provided terminally ill Western Australians with
peace of mind?
419. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's historic decision to introduce voluntary assisted dying,
which, from 1 July last year, has provided
eligible terminally ill Western Australians the opportunity to die with
dignity. Nearing the one-year anniversary of this significant reform,
can the minister update the house on the implementation of voluntary assisted
dying, including the partnership between clinicians, patients and their loved
ones, and can the minister outline to the
house how access to VAD has provided terminally ill Western Australians with
peace of mind?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his
question. I also thank him for his commitment to this outcome and for serving
on the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices with me, the member for
Baldivis and other members of this place and the other place, some of whom are
here and some of whom have since retired.
The introduction of assisted dying
was the result of our committee recommendations. That was a very challenging
but worthwhile process—I think that is the right way to describe it—in
which we heard many, many accounts of people who had watched their loved ones
unnecessarily suffer a very painful death. One particular account stayed with me and continues to stay with me. That was a young
woman named Melanie, who was the same age as me. She had motor neurone
disease and had to seek assistance in an aged-care institution. She could not
find relief for her symptoms and starved herself to death. This unnecessary
suffering across the community was very obvious to the committee; therefore, we
made that recommendation.
The legislation itself is
important. We are coming to the first anniversary of its operation. Although
the bill was passed some time ago in the
previous Parliament, the government spent 18 months on implementation to ensure
that it was absolutely right, that the safeguards were in place, the
process was clear, and that we had the right and safest possible framework. The
framework is that the person has to be 18 years old, an Australian citizen and
permanent resident, and have a disease, illness and medical condition that is
advanced, progressive and will, on the balance of probabilities, cause death
within six months, or 12 months if it is a neurodegenerative disease.
Importantly, the bill was introduced with significant investment in palliative
care, both metropolitan and regional, because we know that there is a continuum
of care at end of life. If we are to have genuine end-of-life choices, it needs
to be a genuine choice to have palliative care and/or voluntary assisted dying.
It is overseen by a board that ensures that the proper processes are adhered to
and is able to report back to me.
It
is good to report to the house an update on how that process is going and how
it is operating. Since the implementation and operationalisation of the
act nearly one year ago, 68 health practitioners have completed all elements of
the VAD-approved training, with 46 based in
Perth, including the Peel area, and the remainder in the rural regions. A total
of 171 individuals have accessed voluntary assisted dying to 31 May 2022. The
average age was 73 years old, and 58 per cent
were male and 42 per cent were female. A total of 65 per cent were diagnosed with
cancer-related disease, 15 per cent neuro related, eight per cent
respiratory and 11 per cent other. Geographically distributed, 79 per cent were
in the metro area and 21 per cent in the regional areas.
I am very proud to be the Minister
for Health in the McGowan government and certainly to be part of implementing
and introducing this really important framework, as well as the important
significant investment in palliative care.
question. I also thank him for his commitment to this outcome and for serving
on the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices with me, the member for
Baldivis and other members of this place and the other place, some of whom are
here and some of whom have since retired.
The introduction of assisted dying
was the result of our committee recommendations. That was a very challenging
but worthwhile process—I think that is the right way to describe it—in
which we heard many, many accounts of people who had watched their loved ones
unnecessarily suffer a very painful death. One particular account stayed with me and continues to stay with me. That was a young
woman named Melanie, who was the same age as me. She had motor neurone
disease and had to seek assistance in an aged-care institution. She could not
find relief for her symptoms and starved herself to death. This unnecessary
suffering across the community was very obvious to the committee; therefore, we
made that recommendation.
The legislation itself is
important. We are coming to the first anniversary of its operation. Although
the bill was passed some time ago in the
previous Parliament, the government spent 18 months on implementation to ensure
that it was absolutely right, that the safeguards were in place, the
process was clear, and that we had the right and safest possible framework. The
framework is that the person has to be 18 years old, an Australian citizen and
permanent resident, and have a disease, illness and medical condition that is
advanced, progressive and will, on the balance of probabilities, cause death
within six months, or 12 months if it is a neurodegenerative disease.
Importantly, the bill was introduced with significant investment in palliative
care, both metropolitan and regional, because we know that there is a continuum
of care at end of life. If we are to have genuine end-of-life choices, it needs
to be a genuine choice to have palliative care and/or voluntary assisted dying.
It is overseen by a board that ensures that the proper processes are adhered to
and is able to report back to me.
It
is good to report to the house an update on how that process is going and how
it is operating. Since the implementation and operationalisation of the
act nearly one year ago, 68 health practitioners have completed all elements of
the VAD-approved training, with 46 based in
Perth, including the Peel area, and the remainder in the rural regions. A total
of 171 individuals have accessed voluntary assisted dying to 31 May 2022. The
average age was 73 years old, and 58 per cent
were male and 42 per cent were female. A total of 65 per cent were diagnosed with
cancer-related disease, 15 per cent neuro related, eight per cent
respiratory and 11 per cent other. Geographically distributed, 79 per cent were
in the metro area and 21 per cent in the regional areas.
I am very proud to be the Minister
for Health in the McGowan government and certainly to be part of implementing
and introducing this really important framework, as well as the important
significant investment in palliative care.
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