The NSWNMA was part of a grassroots campaign that finally achieved the introduction of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in New South Wales.
NSW was the last Australian state to legislate for VAD, in May 2022.
Parliament had been considering VAD laws for 20 years before finally adopting it.
This time the legislation had a record 28 co-sponsors from across the political divide, and MPs from all parties worked together to get it passed with a two-thirds majority.
Crucially, the legislation was backed by a strong grassroots campaign headed by Dying with Dignity NSW and Go Gentle Australia.
The independent MP who drove the legislation, Alex Greenwich, told The Lamp that the legislation had “really great support” from healthcare workers and their unions, including the NSWNMA.
Mr Greenwich said it was important for MPs proposing difficult legislation such as the VAD bill to “focus on building coalitions of support that really bring people together”.
Politicians needed to be patient with opposing views and any undecided colleagues, he added.
“I think the NSW Parliament was ready to embrace VAD, because my colleagues had seen the impact and difference it had made in other jurisdictions in Australia.
“We were able to closely watch the legislative debates in all the other states and make sure ours had the right balance of safeguards and pathways to access VAD.
“My colleagues were able to talk to medical practitioners who had dealt with VAD in Victoria, which meant they were able to really understand how it was already operating.
He said, “Also, so many people shared their personal stories of either their own terminal illness or the
terminal illness of friends or loved ones, and the horrible deaths that people had experienced.”
REFORM PASSED BY CONSCIENCE VOTE
While then premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition leader Chris Minns both opposed the reform, they supported a conscience vote “which really opened the door to allow the reform to happen.”
Mr Greenwich said that since the passage of the legislation, NSW Health and its VAD Care Navigator Service had done “a really excellent job in making sure that the community, healthcare professionals and those with a terminal illness are educated on all the processes and steps relating to VAD.”
NSWNMA Conference backed VAD – with conscientious objection
The NSWNMA’s 2023 Annual Conference re-endorsed its support for voluntary assisted dying for people with a terminal or incurable illness. Conference added that “No individual, group or organisation shall be compelled against their will to either participate or not participate in an assisted or supported death of a person.”
The NSW Health website says healthcare workers who have a conscientious objection to VAD have the right to refuse to:
- participate in the request and assessment process
- prescribe, supply, or administer a VAD substance, and/ or
- be present at the time of the administration of a VAD substance.
“ VAD is something that is understandably and importantly heavily regulated.”
He said he had received “really touching correspondence from people who have sought to access the scheme and from the loved ones of people who have gone through all steps of VAD from application through to death.”
“I have been told that the scheme is accessible – obviously with the appropriate safeguards.”