Right: Bob Dent, who took advantage of the short-lived Northern Territory euthanasia law to "die with dignity". Nearly twenty years on, the state of Victoria is planning a similar law.
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Background information
Background
(The background material below was drawn from two sources. Part of it is an abbreviated version of the Wikipedia entry 'Euthanasia'. The full text of this entry can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia#Legal_status
The rest of the material is an abbreviated version of the Wikipedia entry titled 'Euthanasia in Australia'. The full text of this entry can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_in_Australia)
Euthanasia is generally defined as the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.
There are different euthanasia laws in different countries. The British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as 'a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering". In the Netherlands and Flanders, euthanasia is understood as 'termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient'. Euthanasia is categorised in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary.
In some countries there is a divisive public controversy over the moral, ethical, and legal issues of euthanasia. Those who are against euthanasia may argue for the sanctity of life, while proponents of euthanasia rights emphasise alleviating suffering, and preserving bodily integrity, self-determination, and personal autonomy.
Jurisdictions where euthanasia is legal include the Netherlands, Canada, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In the United States, physician aid in dying (PAD), or assisted suicide, is legal in the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington; its status is disputed in Montana.
Euthanasia in Australia
Euthanasia is illegal in Australia, but was legal for a period in the Northern Territory. It is not a crime for a person to take his or her own life in Australia. Furthermore, a patient can elect not to receive any treatment for a terminal illness and can also elect to have life support turned off.
Although it is a crime to assist in euthanasia, prosecutions have been rare. In 2002, relatives and friends who provided moral support to an elderly woman who committed suicide were extensively investigated by police, but no charges were laid. The Commonwealth government subsequently tried to hinder euthanasia with the passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Materials Offences) Bill of 2004. In Tasmania in 2005 a nurse was convicted of assisting in the death of her elderly father, who had terminal cancer, and trying to kill her mother, who was in the early stages of dementia. She was sentenced to two and a half years in jail but the judge later suspended the conviction because he believed the community did not want the woman jailed. This sparked debate about decriminalising euthanasia. Decriminalisation of Euthanasia in Australia is supported by the Science Party, Australian Greens, the Secular Party of Australia, the Australian Sex Party, the Australian Democrats, and the Liberal Democratic Party.
In 2008 Shirley Justins and Caren Jennings were found guilty of manslaughter and accessory to manslaughter respectively for providing Nembutal to former pilot Graeme Wylie in 2006. Justins stated that Wylie wanted to die 'with dignity'. The prosecution argued that Graeme Wylie did not have the mental capacity to make the crucial decision to end his life, classing it as involuntary euthanasia.
An omission to provide life-sustaining medical treatment is lawful in Australia, unless the patient is deemed mentally incapable of consent.
Euthanasia formerly legal in the Northern Territory
Euthanasia was legalised in Australia's Northern Territory by the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. It passed by a vote of 15 to 10 and a year later a repeal bill was brought before the Northern Territory Parliament in August 1996, but was defeated by 14 votes to 11.
Soon after, the law was voided by the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, a statute of the Australian Federal Parliament that amended the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978, the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 and the Norfolk Island Act 1979 to remove the power of each of those territories to legalise euthanasia, and specifically to repeal the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT).
The powers of the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and the Norfolk Island legislatures, unlike those of the State legislatures, are not guaranteed by the Australian Constitution and may be amended or overruled by the Commonwealth. However, before the Commonwealth government made this amendment, three people had already died through physician assisted suicide under the legislation, aided by Dr Philip Nitschke. The first person was a carpenter, Bob Dent, who died on 22 September 1996.
Tasmania
Tasmania came close to legalising voluntary euthanasia in November 2013, when a Greens-initiated voluntary euthanasia bill was narrowly defeated in the House of Assembly by a vote of 13 to 11. The Bill would have allowed terminally ill Tasmanians to end their lives ten days after making three separate requests to their doctor. Although both major parties allowed a conscience vote, all ten Liberals voted against the legislation, with Labor splitting seven in favour and three against, and all five Greens voting in favour.
South Australia
In November 2016, the South Australian House of Assembly narrowly rejected a private member's bill which would have legalised a right to request voluntary euthanasia in circumstances where a person is in unbearable pain and suffering from a terminal illness. The Bill was the first ever euthanasia Bill to pass a second reading stage (27 votes to 19) though the Bill was rejected during the clauses debate of the Bill (23 votes all, with the Speaker's casting vote against the Bill).