The ACT and Northern Territory parliaments will be empowered to consider euthanasia laws after a landmark ban was overturned on Thursday night, ending a 25-year debate on access to voluntary assisted dying.

Labor, the Greens and ACT independent David Pocock helped defeat last-minute attempts to block the overturning of the Howard-era Andrews Bill – the 1997 law that blocked the territories from legalising euthanasia.