Page 4779 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 November 2017
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(b) the significant government and community support for palliative care in the Australian Capital Territory, and the dedicated doctors, nurses and support staff who care for palliative patients in our healthcare system; and
(c) that while palliative care is the most appropriate and effective strategy in the majority of cases, in some cases palliative care is not enough to relieve extreme suffering;
(2) further notes:
(a) the Australian community is interested in debating voluntary assisted dying, as demonstrated by a number of national surveys which consistently indicate strong support for voluntary assisted dying in circumstances where someone is terminally ill and is experiencing unbearable suffering, including:
(i) a 2017 Essential Media Communications survey, with 73 percent of respondents supporting assisted dying in those circumstances;
(ii) a 2015 Ipsos Mori survey, with 73 percent of respondents in support;
(iii) 2007, 2009 and 2012 Newspoll surveys, with an average of 82.5 percent of respondents in support; and
(iv) a 2012 Australia Institute survey, with 71 percent of respondents in support; and
(b) parliamentary activity in nearly every State of Australia to research, discuss and debate the topics of voluntary assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia, in particular:
(i) the passing of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 20 October 2017, which is due to be debated in the Victorian Legislative Council this week;
(ii) the introduction of a Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in the New South Wales Legislative Council in September 2017;
(iii) the announcement in August 2017 of a parliamentary inquiry into voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia; and
(iv) the introduction of Voluntary Assisted Dying Bills in South Australia and Tasmania in the last year, which were not supported at that time;
(3) acknowledges:
(a) voluntary assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia involve complex health and legal issues which raise moral and ethical questions and, as such, should be open to debate by the community’s elected representatives;
(b) for the last 20 years, the Legislative Assembly has been precluded from legislating to allow any form of voluntary assisted dying or voluntary
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