Voluntary assisted dying

Every Territorian has a right to receive compassionate, high quality and accessible care at the end of their life.

Community members are entitled to make decisions around managing their end of life care, like other Australians.

The introduction of the Restoring Territory Rights Act 2022 (Cth) in December 2022 means the Northern Territory (NT) can now consider legalising voluntary assisted dying (VAD).

Community consultation

The NT Government is carrying out community consultation to develop a framework for VAD.

The framework will meet the needs of community members, ensuring this care is accessible, appropriate and safe.

Consultation closes on Tuesday 30 April 2024.

Have your say

To have your say on developing the framework, you can:

• provide a submission by Tuesday 30 April 2024:
  • email to vadinquiry@nt.gov.au
  • post to Priorities Delivery Unit, GPO Box 4396, Darwin NT, 0801
• attend a public meeting - see below for more information.

A Have Your Say survey closed on Friday 1 March.

Upcoming public meetings

Meetings will be held in:

• Darwin
• Palmerston
• Katherine
• Alice Springs
• Tennant Creek.

More details will be published soon.

You will need to register to attend.

Tennant Creek

Thursday 9 May 2024
Barkly Regional Council, Civic Hall, 41 Peko Road
From 4:00pm to 6:00pm

To register go to the Eventbrite website.

Wadeye

Monday 29 April 2024
West Daly Regional Council Conference Room – Lot 463 Perdjert Street
Women’s meeting: from 10:30am to 12:00pm
Men’s meeting: from 12:30pm to 2:00pm

Register for women’s meeting on the Eventbrite website.

Register for men’s meeting on the Eventbrite website.

Past events

Advisory panel

An expert advisory panel has been set up as part of the consultation process.

It is led by co-chairs the Hon Vicki O’Halloran AO CVO and Duncan McConnel SC.

The panel is made up of members representing the diversity of the NT community.

Members will report to the Chief Minister and be guided by terms of reference. This means they must listen to the views of the community.

The panel will consider such submissions when making recommendations to government to inform the framework.

The panel will provide a written report to the NT Government by July 2024.

Read more about the advisory panel.

Get the terms of reference PDF (938.4 KB)

Discussion guides

The following discussion guides provide more information about VAD and can help guide your input:

• What is voluntary assisted dying and how you can have your say? PDF (257.2 KB)
• Who should have access to voluntary assisted dying? PDF (233.1 KB)
• What process should a person follow to access VAD PDF (249.7 KB)
• The role of health professionals and health services PDF (251.3 KB)
• Monitoring and compliance - How should we monitor voluntary assisted dying to make sure the process is safe and effective? PDF (249.9 KB)

Resources are available in different languages to help guide your input, as well as audio files for Aboriginal languages.

Comparative table of VAD legislation in Australia

This is a table comparing the VAD legislation passed by all Australian states. It provides an overview only.

VAD simplified comparator table DOCX (62.8 KB).

Contact

Email VADInquiry@nt.gov.au.

You can also call the hotline on 1800 973 393 from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.