Submission to the South Australian End of Life Choices Inquiry

The APS recommends that the South Australian Government considers the limitations of the existing, and very medicalised, service system to manage people’s preferences and sense of control as they approach the end of their life. 

The main risks and issues from a psychological perspective that have been explored in detail in previous submissions include:

• competence and decision-making capacity and the intersections with mental illness and cognitive impairment; 
• coercion and the impact of family and societal attitudes; 
• managing the process for conscientious objection; 
• the impact on practitioners working with people approaching the end of life; 
• increased access to psychological services to assist in capacity assessments, therapeutic interventions and clinical supervision;
• the adequacy and access to health care; and 
• the need for more investment in palliative care.

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