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Voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a snapshot

Kate Furness, Donna Markham, Tamica Sturgess and Margaret O’Connor
Med J Aust 2021; 215 (3): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.51176
Published online: 2 August 2021

To the Editor: Victoria introduced voluntary assisted dying in June 2019, historic legislation which aimed to enable terminally ill people in limited circumstances to end their life with autonomy, compassion and support. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 20171 is considered the most conservative and safe legislation in the world, with 68 safeguards. We compared recent Victorian reporting data2,3 with a 12‐month period of data on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act (1997),4 as the jurisdictions have similar population sizes and there is no comparable jurisdiction currently operating in Australia.


  • 1 Monash Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 Monash University, Melbourne, VIC
  • 3 Safer Care Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
  • 4 Melbourne City Mission, Melbourne, VIC



Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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