That's the case with the forthcoming Senate debate on whether or not the ACT and the Northern Territory should have their right to legislate on voluntary euthanasia reinstated.

That entitlement was taken away more than 20 years ago by the then Howard Government which vigorously opposed the Northern Territory's decision to pass assisted dying legislation.

Four people ended their lives under the NT's "Rights of the Terminally Ill Act" before it was overturned.

The Senate initiative has come about as part of a so-called "liberty dividend" negotiated by controversial Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm in return for helping to pass the Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation.

While Leyonhjelm, who has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons thanks to repeated attacks on Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, would be far from the most popular politician in Canberra right now, it has to be acknowledged he has done the city a service.

Last November's Victorian Government decision to legalise assisted dying from mid-2019 highlighted the fact that as a result of the 1996 "Andrews Bill", which passed into law in 1997, there are now two classes of citizen in this country.

Those who live in states, such as NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the like, can elect local legislatures which can make decisions on issues such as euthanasia. Those who live in the territories do not.

A bid to pass euthanasia legislation in NSW last year failed by a single upper house vote.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the Senate will agree to lifting the restrictions on territories to make laws on euthanasia, there is growing interest in, and concern about, the possibility with the Katter Party recently accusing the ACT Government of wanting to "move quickly".

That prompted a timely and appropriate denial from the ACT Attorney General, Gordon Ramsay, who quite rightly said his government doesn't even have a fixed position on the issue.

There had been no "active conversations [about assisted dying legislation] primarily because we have no legislative authority to consider to pass laws on that matter anyway", he said.

Under the law as it stands the question is academic.

If and when Senator Leyonhjelm's proposal gets up ACT legislative assembly members from all sides of the political divide will need to give this issue very serious consideration. The recent debates in NSW and Victoria have highlighted growing public interest.

As our population ages more and more people are being confronted with the fact that we do not always handle dying well. There is also concern that palliative care, the alternative that is regularly presented by the anti-euthanasia lobby, is not as well funded as it should be and is not universally available.

There is also a growing sense that individuals should have the right, within well-defined limits and with appropriate safeguards in place, to determine the manner of their passing.

This is a conversation many Canberrans would like to have. Let's hope they are given that chance.