This week's report by the ACT Parliament's "end of life choices inquiry" has, again, shone a bright light on the inability of Canberrans to vote on whether or not voluntary euthanasia should be legalised here.
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Commissioned last year during the push spearheaded by Senator David Leyonhjelm to have the so-called Andrews Bill, which prevents the ACT and the Northern Territory governments from making laws about euthanasia, repealed, the inquiry considered what an assisted dying scheme in the ACT might look like.
The short, and unsurprisingly, the answer is a lot like the assisted dying laws due to take effect in Victoria from June 19.
Victoria, which passed its legislation in November, 2017, has adopted a highly considered approach in rolling out its scheme. In addition to deferring implementation for 18 months, it has adopted stringent safeguards to ensure the assisted dying process cannot be abused.
An applicant must be a Victorian aged over 18, have been diagnosed with an incurable disease that causes "suffering to the person that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person considers tolerable" and have been given a prognosis of less than six months or 12 months for some neurodegenerative conditions.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate they possess a clear decision-making capacity and that they have come to their decision independently after they become unwell.
They have to make the request directly to a doctor and sign a written declaration, witnessed by two people who are not relatives, in the doctor's presence.
Once a second request, which can only be submitted 10 days later at the earliest, is lodged, the doctor can then issue a prescription. If the patient is unable to take the medication themselves the doctor must seek a special permit to assist.
The doctor can only administer the medication, pentobarbital in Victoria, in the presence of witnesses.
The Victorian scheme, the first to be introduced in Australia since the Northern Territory's shortlived attempt to legalise euthanasia more than 20 years ago, seems to tick most of the boxes identified by the ACT Parliamentary inquiry.
These are that participants be at least 18, have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or serious condition that can't be relieved with palliative care, must be assessed as being of a sound mind by the examining doctor and that they be given adequate information about assisted dying and the impact of their decision.
The irony is, as committee member Caroline Le Couteur was at pains to point out, that the issue is academic given the limitations imposed by the Andrews Bill.
"I can say a majority of committee members support the continuing work with the Northern Territory to lobby the government to give the territories the right to make laws in this regard for its citizens," she said.
An alternative approach, which would also be worth considering given the time it may take to persuade any federal government to give territories the same rights as states, would be to advocate for a national approach to assisted dying legislation.
As we saw with marriage equality, a uniform national policy which gives all Australians equal rights is preferable to a piecemeal approach which may result in significant variations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
