Victoria has become the first Australian jurisdiction to legally empower doctors to intentionally kill a patient or to provide a patient with the means to kill themselves.
The new law will allow a person who has been “ordinarily resident” in Victoria for at least 12 months, who has “decision-making capacity”, has been diagnosed with a disease, illness or medical condition that is incurable, is expected to cause death within weeks or months not exceeding six months (not exceeding 12 months for certain neurological conditions), and is causing suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner the person considers tolerable to request a lethal substance to kill him/herself or to be administered by a doctor if the person is incapable of administering it him/herself.