The Northern Territory Voluntary Assisted Dying inquiry (NT VAD) closed on August 29, after a two week extension.
At time of writing, the聽 had received 369 submissions, ranging from individual鈥檚 phone submissions through to detailed reports from leading advocacy organisations, including .
They show how important VAD as an end-of-life care option is to Territorians (79% support) and people across the country (86% support).
While some church organisations and individuals expressed objections on religious grounds, the聽submission by聽聽provided data showing 76% Catholic and 81% Anglican support.
A聽submission from ,听the architect of Australia鈥檚 world-first聽, reflects a widespread frustration that VAD has still not been re-legislated in the NT.
The NT Voluntary Euthanasia Society 聽agrees, affirming the legal and humanitarian basis of VAD law and urging the restoration of VAD. It has campaigned for its return for decades, alongside聽the .聽Both are members of the NT VAD Working Group, which is chaired by Independent member for Johnston Justine Davis, who moved the original motion to progress VAD in the NT Legislative Assembly on May 13.
Key health sectors made supportive submissions, including the聽,听,听the聽,听 and NT Health.聽
聽submission, dated August 29, said: 鈥淣T Health looks forward to supporting a safe and accessible VAD service and will continue to provide subject matter expertise during the legislation drafting process.鈥
NT Health, a key stakeholder in the聽, also recommended improvements to that report鈥檚 original recommendations, including removing the 鈥済ag clause鈥 preventing medical practitioners from discussing VAD with patients.
鈥淭here should be no restriction on health practitioners introducing the subject of VAD services to patients during discussion about treatment options for end-of-life care,鈥 NT Health said, provided all available options were provided, including palliative care.聽It added that formal VAD assessments would still have to be done by a doctor.
The July 聽states its final report is due to go back to the NT Attorney General on September 30. Advocates have written to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee seeking assurances that despite the two-week extension on submissions, the report will still be released at that time, or before the three remaining weeks of parliament.