The first annual report by the Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (Qld) states that
In the first six months [1 January – 30 June 2023] of voluntary assisted dying in Queensland, 591 people commenced the process and 245 people died from administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance, as their end-of-life choice.
The report's statistical snapshot indicates -
Completed first assessments:
Eligible 562; Ineligible 29
Gender: Male 331, Female 260; X or non-binary: 0
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: Aboriginal 7; Torres Strait Islander 0; Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 1
Median age: 73
Region: Metropolitan 296; Regional, rural or remote 295
Accessing palliative care: 459
Data for deaths is
Self-administration: 106
Practitioner administration: 139
Substance not administered: 130
Withdrawn requests: 30
The authorised practitioners at 30 June 2023 were
Medical practitioners: 155
Nurse practitioners: 19
Registered nurses: 144
The Review Board makes the following recommendations:
1. Continuous review of how voluntary assisted dying is working in practice to ensure sustainability of services. This requires ensuring adequate, ongoing funding and resources to support the needs of people accessing voluntary assisted dying and practitioners in private and public health services.
2. Amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) to enable carriage services (such as telehealth) to be used for the provision of voluntary assisted dying services.
3. The Medicare Benefit Schedule should be reviewed to include the addition of appropriate item numbers to ensure remuneration is sufficient to reflect the task undertaken by practitioners.
4. Adequate resourcing for research and engagement with stakeholders to allow the Review Board to conduct research and develop the evidence base needed to inform continuous improvement of voluntary assisted dying.
5. Continue community and stakeholder engagement to improve awareness of voluntary assisted dying in Queensland with a particular focus on supporting individual choice; equity of access to voluntary assisted dying; and individual and organisational obligations under the Act.
