First Victorian euthanasia figures released

Eight months after Victoria’s laws were passed, details emerge how many people have legally ended their lives.

More than 50 people have ended their lives under Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws, and more than 130 have requested access and been found eligible. Picture: istock

The chair of Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board says she had seen “no evidence” of children coercing parents to take their own lives using the state's euthanasia laws, following the release of statistics showing more than 50 people have used the scheme to die since it was introduced in June last year.

A common concern about euthanasia is the potential for it to be used to hasten death by children who may stand to inherit from their parents, but former supreme court judge and VAD review board chair Betty King said that if anything, children were often “opposed to the parents ending their life”.

“It's the parents who want to do it,” Ms King said.

“I have not seen (evidence of parents being coerced to end their lives), and I have been looking, believe me.

“I have seen no indication of any type of coercion. It’s a reasonable thing to look at, but it has been really the reverse.

“Some of the feedback (from family members) is, ‘I wish it hadn’t happened, in that I wanted my mum or my dad or my sister to be here, but … even though I personally wanted them to stay, I agreed to support them because I love them’.”

The VAD review board’s inaugural six-monthly report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, found 52 people had ended their lives between June 19 and December 31, 2019, with 81 obtaining permits to have lethal drugs administered.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the numbers far exceeded initial government estimates for only about a dozen people to use the laws in the first six months.

“We do anticipate that as more Victorians understand that this choice is available to them and as more people understand how the legislation operates and more doctors undertake the mandatory training, that there may well be a further increase in these numbers, but this is a very reassuring start in the first six months of the legislation, that the scheme is working as it was intended,” Ms Mikakos said.

She said a “very small number” of applicants had been found ineligible for voluntary assisted dying due to their immigration status.

“The legislation set out very clearly the requirement that someone needed to be either an Australian citizen or a permanent resident and have resided in Victoria for 12 months, so there have been a very small number of cases where that has been an issue,” she said.

Ms King said some applicants had died prior to receiving lethal medication, while others had obtained voluntary assisted dying permits, but opted not to go through with taking their lives.

“A number of people take the steps and then decide not to use it, which is something we anticipated would be the situation,” she said.

“A number go through to the stage of getting a permit, but then don’t get the medication, or they get the medication issued but don’t use it.”

Medical practitioners submitted 649 individual forms on behalf of people wishing to access voluntary assisted dying between June and December, with 83 per cent of cases requiring forms to be returned for clarification or provision of missing eligibility information, according to the report.

“Doctors are not the best form fillers at times, but they’ve tried really hard and it’s a new process, and every new process requires learning,” Ms King said.

To be eligible for voluntary assisted dying, Victorians need to show evidence they have an incurable and advanced disease, illness or medical condition that is expected to cause death within six months (or within 12 months for a neurodegenerative condition).

They also need to prove they are experiencing suffering they consider “intolerable”, have decision-making capacity, are an adult, and are an Australian citizen or permanent resident who has lived in Victoria for at least the past 12 months.