Review of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022

The NSW Ministry of Health is undertaking a review of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 (the Act) on behalf of the Minister for Health. Under the Act, the Minister must review the operation and effectiveness of the Act, with this first review marking two years since the commencement of VAD in NSW.

Palliative Care NSW has been invited to submit feedback as part of this review. To inform that submission, your input is important.

How to provide your feedback

The Ministry is seeking responses to five specific questions, which link to the focus for the review (more information below). Feedback from members will be collated to form our submission. All feedback will be de-identified, noting that the online survey is an anonymous survey with no personal details required. You can provide your feedback to Palliative Care NSW one of two ways.

Option One
Complete an online survey.
Closes Wed 4th Feb.

Click Here

Option Two
Join a 45-minute online feedback session
10am, 22nd Jan or 3rd Feb.

Click Here

Review Focus

The legislative review must review the operation and effectiveness of the Act and include consideration of the principles of the Act, in particular, the following two principles:

    • a person is entitled to genuine choices about the person’s care, treatment and end of life, irrespective of where the person lives in New South Wales and having regard to the person’s culture and language,
    • a person who is a regional resident is entitled to the same level of access to voluntary assisted dying and high quality care and treatment, including palliative care and treatment, as a person who lives in a metropolitan region.

The review will focus on 4 key themes: 1. Patient choice, 2. Equitable access, respect and inclusion, 3. Safeguards for patients and healthcare workers, and 4. Service delivery and sustainability.

A background paper has been provided by the Ministry of Health which should be reviewed prior to providing your feedback.

Read Background Paper

Questions to be answered

There are five questions the Ministry is seeking feedback on. You will be asked to answer these questions in the survey or during the online session.

  1. Regarding the operation of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022, what has worked well, what has not, and what should be considered for change?
  2. Do you think the NSW voluntary assisted dying legislation, systems, processes and practices support patient choice in relation to voluntary assisted dying in NSW? (Theme 1 in background paper)
  3. Do you think the NSW voluntary assisted dying legislation, systems, processes and practices support equitable access, respect and inclusion in relation to voluntary assisted dying in NSW? (Theme 2 in background paper)
  4. Do you think that the safeguards for patients and healthcare workers in relation to voluntary assisted dying in NSW are appropriate? (Theme 3 in background paper)
  5. Do you think the NSW voluntary assisted dying legislation, systems, processes and practices support sustainability and service delivery in NSW? (Theme 4 in background paper)