State helpline to take euthanasia calls

TERMINALLY ill patients will be able to get information on legalised euthanasia from a 24-hour state government-sponsored hotline manned by medical professionals. But not everyone is pleased with the scheme.

TERMINALLY ill patients will be able to get ­information on euthanasia from a 24-hour state government- sponsored hotline.

The $6 million palliative care ­support line will also provide help and ­advice on end-of-life care.

But a government tender document reveals the winning provider must be willing to provide information on the assisted dying scheme.

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The government wants the hotline — staffed by doctors and nurses — to begin after euthanasia becomes legal in Victoria next June. It is expecting 45,000 callers in its first year.

The clause has angered religious groups, who say it is evidence of the “slippery slope” of the scheme.

The government wants the doctor-manned hotline to start after euthanasia becomes legal in Victoria in June 2019 and is expecting 45,000 callers in its first year.

The Australian Christian Lobby’s ­Victorian director, Dan Flynn, said palliative care and assisted dying were “diametrically opposed”.

“They are incompatible, and I think it is a cynical move on the part of the government to mandate it as part of the contract,” Mr Flynn said.

Palliative Care Victoria chief executive Odette Waanders said it was important the advice line didn’t create confusion between assisted dying and palliative care.

She slammed the Labor government’s ­record of palliative care funding, and said an advice line did little to address the gap.

“It is going to be thin and superficial. How are you going to be able to give advice to someone over the phone when you don’t have the service on the ground to back it up?” she said.

“It will be very hard over the phone to help the carer or family of someone who is dying.”

The palliative care support line has been slammed by multiple groups.

The advice line will provide counselling, help on symptom relief, and increase the number of “people to be cared for and to die at home, if that is their choice”.

Those expected to call in would ­include the terminally ill, their carers and family members.

The palliative care hotline will be manned by doctors, nurses or qualified counsellors, and one of its aims is to reduce the number of terminally ill patients going to emergency departments for help.

There is no age limit on callers. But only adults of sound mind and diagnosed as having less than 12 months to live can access the assisted dying scheme — which passed the Victorian parliament last year after a marathon series of debates.

The Christian lobby is campaigning in marginal seats against the scheme during the current Victorian election campaign.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said the hotline would be a trusted and ­reliable 24-hour source for end-of-life information.

He said it would provide advice on voluntary assisted dying only when prompted by the caller.

The hotline would also be able to ­direct callers on where to find other resources, he added.