Response to the ACT Government Consultation about Voluntary Assisted Dying

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) welcomed the opportunity to respond to the ACT Government consultation on voluntary assisted dying legislation.

The APS neither supports nor opposes voluntary assisted dying. Consistent with our position in previous submissions to voluntary assisted dying consultations in other jurisdictions, the APS advocates for:

• Legal processes characterised by care, compassion and decision-making over time,
• Equity of access and choice for all Australians to available end-of-life care options, including the highest quality palliative care and legal voluntary assisted dying, should they wish to access it,
• Systems and processes that enable a multidisciplinary approach to end-of-life care and support health professionals to work to their full scope of practice, and
• Efforts towards cross-jurisdictional consistency for voluntary assisted dying legislation to bring clarity for the community and health professionals.

APS feedback about ACT voluntary assisted dying legislation focused on matters associated with:

• Decision-making capacity and ensuring voluntary, non-coerced decision-making about voluntary assisted dying,
• The process for request and assessment to access voluntary assisted dying,
• The role of psychologists in voluntary assisted dying, including processes around conscientious objection, and
• Health equity considerations and Indigenous and CALD perspectives about voluntary assisted dying.

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