Labor will come under pressure to allow Australians to access voluntary assisted dying through telehealth services, with the Greens and independent Kate Chaney to introduce legislation based on changes to Labor\u2019s national platform.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s national conference in Adelaide changed the ALP platform and committed Labor to overturn a Howard-era law banning people from having medical appointments regarding euthanasia via telehealth services.<\/p>\n
New language added to the platform gives Labor MPs a conscience vote on the issue, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese<\/a>, said on Sunday the government might not progress laws through parliament.<\/p>\n The party\u2019s platform is a set of policy principles but changes are not always immediately reflected in government legislation.<\/p>\n Albanese said while he supported assisted dying, also known as voluntary euthanasia, he believed the telehealth change risked undermining proper medical safeguards.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important that people have the right to die \u2026 with dignity,\u201d he told ABC TV.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s also important that protections are placed around it. Now, if someone has a heart attack or an acute health condition, they need a doctor. They can\u2019t do that over telehealth.<\/p>\n \u201cI think someone ending their life is just as important. I think it should be face-to-face recognition and face-to-face engagement. My concern is \u2026 the potential for misuse but also the potential it has to undermine the system itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n Asked if the federal government would move to change the law to reflect the updated national platform, Albanese said the cabinet would decide on whether new legislation would be drafted, in consultation with MPs.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernments determine what governments do around our cabinet table. What the conference does is put the general direction of what they want, and it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s a matter of conscience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young on Sunday indicated she would quickly move ahead with a private member\u2019s bill on the issue, an apparent attempt to force Labor\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n The Curtin MP, Kate Chaney, had said on Friday that she would move to reintroduce her own private member\u2019s bill in the lower house, saying it would give Labor \u201cthe earliest opportunity to bring this cruel anomaly to an end and give country people the same access as Australians in the big cities\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis overdue change in Labor policy on voluntary assisted dying should mean an end to the needless suffering of people in the final stages of life, particularly for those in regional areas who are currently forced to travel, sometimes repeatedly, just to access lawful medical care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Andrew Denton, a longtime campaigner and the founding director of Go Gentle, said access to care should not depend on someone\u2019s location.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PM is a supporter of end-of-life choice and he\u2019s right to ask questions about the safety of using telehealth in the VAD process,\u201d Denton said on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cFor reassurance, he need look no further than the expert advice from medical groups such as the Australian Medical Association and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, who say telehealth can and should be a safe adjunct to VAD services, certainly where the patient is too sick to travel or when a doctor cannot reach the patient in time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes no sense that advice cannot be given by videoconference or scripts sent by email. Palliative care routinely discusses life-and-death decisions via telehealth and describes it as \u2018particularly important\u2019 in providing comprehensive supportive care in the last weeks of a patient\u2019s life. There is no good reason to treat VAD any differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Doctors and advocates for voluntary assisted dying have long called for changes<\/a>, arguing the telehealth ban adversely affects patients who live in rural and remote areas, and those whose conditions limit their movement or make travel painful.<\/p>\n The federal criminal code prohibits the use of a carriage service to incite or encourage suicide, so health professionals risk breaking the law if they use telecommunications for many aspects of the VAD process.<\/p>\n Fines of up to $300,000 are also possible for breaches of the law.<\/p>\n Disparities between state and federal laws currently add to delays to patients obtaining approval<\/a> for voluntary assisted dying, which is particularly problematic for those with health conditions leading to rapid decline, and who want to die at home.<\/p>\n