Steven Miles urges federal government to act faster on telehealth VAD

Doctors who use telehealth for voluntary assisted dying appointments face a $313,000 fine.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Anthony Albanese is under fresh pressure from Queensland’s Labor government to change federal laws that prohibit doctors from using telehealth for voluntary assisted dying appointments, following binding changes to the party’s national policy platform agreed to last week.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles has warned the federal government that regional Australians are being disadvantaged by Philip Nitschke-era laws that threaten doctors with a $313,000 fine for “inciting or counselling” suicide via a carriage service.

All six states now have VAD laws but a federal ban on telehealth appointments remains in place, meaning those living in ­regional and remote areas have to travel to capital cities to find trained specialists.

Under a binding resolution at Labor’s national conference in Brisbane last week, the commonwealth laws must be reviewed, although it is up to the government to decide when to do so.

Mr Miles, who championed his state’s VAD scheme, urged the federal government to act before the end of the year to address the “clear inequity”.

“The longer it takes, the more suffering (we will) see amongst Queenslanders who live in remote parts of the state,” he said.

“Often people living in remote communities (are) more vulnerable, they’re less well off, they have less access to health services, and that’s what we try to address with telehealth. It’s a shame that we can’t use telehealth for voluntary assisted dying because of these ­national laws.”

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath have been lobbying their federal counterparts for more than a year, but the Albanese government has been reluctant to act.

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told The Australian in July 2022 he was “investigating changes”, and on Wednesday had no further update.

Mr Miles said the federal government must prioritise the issue.

“I think with the new Labor government, they’ve had a big agenda and a lot of work to do, but I just urge them to see how important this is to regional Queenslanders,” he said.

“In a state like Queensland, which is incredibly large and our population is quite spread out, there are parts of the state where it is just not possible to have clinicians trained in these new voluntary assisted dying laws and procedures.”

Queensland taxpayers have been funding flights for doctors to travel to regional areas to help terminally ill patients end their lives after the federal government failed to act on pleas from the Palaszczuk government.

VAD opponents say telehealth appointments are not adequate to assess a person’s competence and ensure they’re not being coerced.