Overview
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has been lawful in Queensland since 1 January 2023, when the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (Qld) came fully into force, following passage through Parliament on 16 September 2021 and a lead-in period to establish the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board and train participating practitioners.
The purpose of the Act is to minimise suffering at the end of a person’s life, by providing a strict, regulated framework for an eligible person to make an informed decision to voluntarily end their own life. The Act allows health practitioners (including a doctor or nurse practitioner) to have lawful conversations about voluntary assisted dying, as part of discussions about other treatment or palliative care options, and if a patient raises it themselves, a practitioner can discuss it with them without restriction. A practitioner who conscientiously objects can decline to be involved, but must tell the person how to access information about VAD from someone else.
Who is eligible for voluntary assisted dying in Queensland?
To access voluntary assisted dying, a person must satisfy every criterion in section 10 of the Act. They must have been diagnosed with a disease, illness or medical condition that is advanced, progressive, will cause death, and is expected to cause death within 12 months; that condition must be causing suffering the person considers intolerable. They must have decision-making capacity, be acting voluntarily and without coercion, and be at least 18 years old.
There’s also a two-limbed residency test. For Australian residency, the person must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or have been ordinarily resident in Australia for at least 3 years, or hold an Australian residency exemption. Separately, for Queensland residency, the person must have been ordinarily resident in Queensland for at least 12 months, or hold a Queensland residency exemption. The chief executive must grant either exemption under section 12 if satisfied the person has a substantial connection to Queensland and there are compassionate grounds to do so. Interstate access to VAD was the subject of ongoing public discussion through 2026, but as at the date of this article no Queensland amendment had passed; the residency requirements above remain current law.
How does someone actually access voluntary assisted dying?
If the eligibility criteria are satisfied, the person still has to complete a set sequence of requests and assessments:
- They make a “first” request to a doctor, which must be responded to within 2 business days. This doctor becomes the “coordinating” practitioner, who conducts a health assessment to determine if the person meets the criteria, and has to give the person information about their diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options, and the risks of the substance;
- A second, independent doctor (the “consulting” practitioner) then carries out their own assessment and verifies the person is eligible;
- A “second” request is then made, by completing an approved written form, witnessed by 2 eligible witnesses (a beneficiary under the person’s will, or someone else who might financially benefit from their death, cannot be a witness);
- A “final” request is made, at least 9 days after the first request, unless death or loss of decision-making capacity is imminent. The final request can be made orally or by another form of communication (a gesture, or writing, for example);
- The coordinating practitioner completes the required paperwork and, if satisfied every step has been properly followed, authorises the substance to be prescribed and administered, either by the person themselves or, in limited circumstances, by a practitioner.
What offences still apply around voluntary assisted dying?
Voluntary assisted dying is only lawful when the Act’s process is followed exactly; departing from it remains a serious criminal matter. Under Part 9 of the Act, the offences include:
- Unauthorised administration of the substance to another person: maximum 14 years’ imprisonment (section 140);
- Inducing a person, dishonestly or by coercion, to make or revoke a request for voluntary assisted dying: maximum 7 years’ imprisonment (section 141);
- Inducing a person, dishonestly or by coercion, to self-administer the substance: maximum 7 years’ imprisonment (section 142);
- Giving the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board false or misleading information, making a false or misleading statement in a required form, or falsifying a document required under the Act: maximum 5 years’ imprisonment for each (sections 143 to 145).
These offences exist precisely because the framework depends on every step, capacity, voluntariness, and the request sequence, being genuinely followed; a family member or practitioner who pressures someone toward (or away from) a decision, or who administers the substance without the authority to do so, is at real risk of prosecution regardless of their intentions.
If you’re concerned about a possible offence
Most people involved in a loved one’s voluntary assisted dying process never come close to any of the offences above. But if you, a family member, or a health practitioner is being investigated, or is worried about how a request or an administration was handled, that is a criminal law question, not a palliative care one, and it deserves advice before you speak to police. Contact us for confidential advice, available 24/7 for urgent matters.
This article is general legal information, not advice about your situation.
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