The Victorian Government’s response to the Inquiry into End-of-life Choices report will be released on Thursday.
Professors Lindy Willmott and Ben White from QUT’s Australian Health Law Research Centre are available for comment on the response to the recommendations made by the Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee of Victorian Parliament in July.
“All eyes will be on the response to recommendation 49,” Professor Willmott says. “This was that the Government should introduce legislation to allow adults with decision-making capacity, suffering from a serious and incurable condition who are at the end of life to be provided assistance to die in certain circumstances.”
Professors Willmott and White believe it is possible to create a system that permits regulated assisted dying, with legislative safeguards, drawing on international evidence, that protect the rights and interests of the vulnerable in our community.
They have researched the regulation of end-of-life decision-making for more than a decade including the dozens of legislative attempts to review the law on euthanasia.
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT Media, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au.
