I’m 86 – this bill to restrict voluntary assisted dying is cruel and callous

I am 86 years old and a longstanding advocate for the rights of the elderly, including those in aged care. Like many others, I was elated when the NSW voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws passed in May 2022. It gives us immense comfort to know that VAD is an option, should we need it.

Susan Carter has introduced a private members’ bill to restrict the use of voluntary assisted dying in aged care homes. Credit: Facebook

I am, therefore, horrified and alarmed that NSW parliament could even consider Susan Carter’s bill allowing aged care providers to force dying residents from their homes if they choose VAD.

It overturns the express provisions in our VAD laws which ensure that aged care residents can access VAD and can die peacefully in the place which has become their home – a place which is their emotional sanctuary at this crucial time of their lives and where they have the right to dignity, autonomy and to access any legal medical treatment they choose. This includes VAD.

Allowing aged care providers to place religious ideology above the rights of residents will make VAD virtually impossible to access for many dying residents.

Susan Carter and her 13 co-sponsors claim that no one will be denied VAD. They suggest that residents should do their “due diligence” and choose an aged care facility that supports VAD. Or they can “simply” go elsewhere (to a hospital, hotel, the local park?) for their VAD appointments and death.

They clearly don’t understand or don’t care about the realities of aged care or the suffering of dying people.

I know from the experiences of friends and family that choice in aged care is an illusion. In Sydney, the lack of options is bad enough. In the regions, it can be near impossible. You must accept whatever is available and the search for a vacancy is both prolonged and stressful. Just last month, it was reported that almost 1,000 people were languishing in NSW public hospitals, often for months, waiting for an aged care bed.

Susan Carter and her supporters also gloss over the complexity of the VAD process, which can take weeks to complete. They would force gravely ill people to transfer from their homes at least seven times to complete all the necessary steps in the application process.

Forcing a dying person to endure these transfers is just heartless and cruel. It shows no consideration for the physical and emotional harm to the person or the distress inflicted on families. It may be impossible to find an alternative location that supports VAD and many residents are simply too ill to be moved at all.

The practical result would be to restrict or deny access to VAD to many living in aged care, with those in regional and remote areas disproportionately affected. This is discrimination at its very worst.

We now know that Susan Carter’s bill is not only callous, it is unconstitutional, and would be overridden by the new rights-based federal aged care laws.

This means that aged care providers who willingly accept our fees and substantial government funding have both a moral and legal obligation to respect and support their residents’ end-of-life choices, including access to VAD.

Susan Carter should do the ethical thing and withdraw this invalid bill from the parliament.

If not, she and her supporters are now on notice that elderly people and their families are watching closely.

Any politician who votes for this cruel bill is sending a clear message to the electorate that they care more about the religious freedom of powerful institutions than the rights and well-being of vulnerable residents in their care.

Jill Nash is a community advocate for COTA NSW, the peak body for seniors in NSW, and a Community Council member of the Sydney North Primary Health Network. She is also the founder of CHiLL – Choices in Later Life.

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