In Victoria, the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Review Board published their fourth report about the VAD law that is in force since 2019. You can find the report below:
This report covers the six-month period July-December 2020 of Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Act.
The report is the follow up of the third report, that we published last September.
In summary, this six-month report shows:
- Access to voluntary assisted dying has grown – the number of practitioner administration permits issued increased by 31.6 per cent, and the number of confirmed deaths from practitioner administration increased by 81.8 per cent
- The number of medical practitioners involved continues to grow – there was a 25.6 per cent increase in the number of medical practitioners involved in applications, although there is still a gap in some speciality areas and in regional and rural Victoria
- The Statewide Pharmacy Service experienced greater demand – the number of applicants receiving medication increased by 30.9 per cent. Despite this, most applicants received their medication on the day they preferred
- Applications were rarely withdrawn due to the applicant deciding not to proceed – less than two per cent of withdrawn cases were due to the applicant changing their mind
- Compliance with the Act remains high – 95 per cent of cases retrospectively reviewed by the Board were compliant with the Act. The Board identified six cases to be non-compliant – although the issues were not related to the eligibility of the applicant.
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