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Jake Hammond was our guest speaker this week and gave us all a privileged insight into how the ‘sausage’ of complex and controversial law is made. Jake was born and raised in country WA, on a farm east of Bonnington. He moved to Melbourne in his early 20s and to take up a traineeship with the Victorian Dept of Health, where he found his passion in public service and had a front row seat to the inception and ultimately the passing of the Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation, a historic first for an Australian state in 2017. Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) definitions: - Assisted Suicide - When somebody is assisted to take their own life.
- Euthanasia - When a medical professional takes the life of the patient.
- Assisted Dying - Encompasses both assisted suicide and euthanasia.
The legislation in Victoria and other Australian states are assisted dying schemes whereby a patient is prescribed medication to consume themselves, however there are provisions in place to allow for a medical professional to administer the medication. History Timeline: - Switzerland established non-profit assisted suicide in the 1980s. What is important here is that it is solely assisted suicide and arose from a technicality that it's not illegal to help someone kill themselves in Switzerland so long as you don’t do it for financial gain or "selfish reasons."
- The first jurisdiction in the world to legislate assisted dying was the Northern Territory in 1996, before John Howard used federal legislation to overturn the law. In 1997.
- The US State of Oregon passes the Death with Dignity Act in 1997.
- The Netherlands and Belgium legislated assisted dying in 2002. Luxembourg later in 2009.
- Victoria passes the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act in 2017.
- At the 2021 election, New Zealand voted to legislate assisted dying.
Assisted Dying in Australia: • 2017 - Victoria (Labor) legalised VAD • 2019 - Western Australia (Labor) legalised VAD • 2021 – Tasmania (Liberal), Queensland (Labor) and South Australia (Liberal) legalised VAD • 2022 – NSW (Liberal) has passed the lower House and is expected to come to an Upper House vote early this year. • NT and ACT have asked the Federal Government to repeal its legislation blocking them from enacting VAD, but have been repeatedly denied. Common arguments against VAD include issues with the creeping legislation (such as has happened in the Netherlands); mental health; people with disabilities; children accessing VAD; elder abuse; financial incentives to choose VAD (US Insurers) and palliative care. ******************************** Carmel’s Riddle of the Week  Jeff is younger than Rodney but older than Debbie. Larry is older than Erica who is older than Jeff. Rodney is older than Larry. Who is the middle child? ******************************** |
Director’s Roundup
Fun and games to finish off the evening.
