Page 492 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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(a) that the ACT has one of Australia’s fastest growing populations of people aged 60 and over, with numbers expected to increase to almost 20% of the population by 2020;
(b) that there is a growing call for the community to have greater choice and greater control over their manner of dying;
(c) that the current Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cwlth) prevents legislation relating to end-of-life issues from being proposed or debated in this place;
(d) that the ACT Government provides excellent palliative care services through home based and in-patient services under the Palliative Care Services Plan 2013-2017;
(e) that the general consensus at my End-of-Life Issues forums that the conversation covering the questions of dying continue in a positive way;
(f) that advance care directives are recommended, however, some find putting this in place is difficult and believe more can be done to encourage their use; and
(g) the importance of public education on the benefits of advanced care directives; and
(2) calls on the Government to:
(a) continue to provide for greater choice in relation to palliative care services;
(b) examine the existing legislation covering the power of attorney and advance care directives with a view to simplifying the process;
(c) investigate whether the current My Health Record could support a personal online based advance care directive that could be accessed by health professionals who treat a critically or terminally ill person;
(d) offer support and education programs for the Territory on how to complete an advance care directive as well as provide facts on their importance; and
(e) continue to advocate for the repeal of the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cwlth), which does not allow the ACT Assembly to legislate for voluntary euthanasia.
I rise to speak on end-of-life issues, as they are a matter that many members of the ACT community raised with me when I first came into this place. The question of our manner of our dying will remain a question, but death is a reality. However, I have observed that as a society we are reluctant to discuss death and frequently use terms such as “passing” and “loss” to describe someone’s death. We all know the truism that two things in life cannot be avoided: death and taxes.
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