Motion - Voluntary Assisted Dying Online Portal

Tuesday 23 September 2025

Voluntary Assisted Dying Online Portal

[3.10 p.m.]

Mr GAFFNEY (Mersey) - Mr President, I move -

That:

(1)         The Legislative Council notes that a General Practitioner based on the Northwest Coast of Tasmania who has been involved in approximately 80 cases of Voluntary Assisted Dying under the provisions of the End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021 (the Act) has expressed concern about the lack of an electronic portal for the submission of relevant requests, applications and information required under the Act and this has resulted in cumbersome administrative complexities and workload; and

(2)         The Legislative Council further notes that:

(a)          Tasmania is the only jurisdiction in Australia which has Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation that does not utilise a portal to facilitate the effective and timely transfer of information as required by the legislation;

(b)          Medical Practitioners are refusing to actively participate in the legislated Voluntary Assisted Dying process because of the cumbersome and time-consuming paper-based system currently in place;

(c)          Medical Practitioners who have been very supportive of the legislated Voluntary Assisted Dying process are now walking away from the process; and

(3)         The Legislative Council calls upon the Tasmanian State Government to purchase or develop an online portal for use by Primary Medical Practitioners, Consulting Medical Practitioners, Administering Health Practitioners and the Voluntary Assisted Dying Commission established under the Act.

[3.59 p.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, I thank the member for Mersey for bringing this forward and for the legislation. It's been an emotional ride for the member. The work that you've done is amazing.

I personally haven't had any contact with patients, but I have had contact with one doctor.

Sitting suspended from 4.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

MOTION

Voluntary Assisted Dying Online Portal

Resumed from above.

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, as I mentioned before the break, I will have a very short contribution as it's been covered very well. The contributions have been fairly comprehensive by the member for Hobart and obviously the member for Mersey.

I haven't had any dealings personally with anyone who has been involved in VAD apart from a doctor who contacted me, a doctor who's a friend and who's had a lot of involvement in the VAD space. He told me it is time-consuming and rewarding. He said:

You know, you can spend six to seven hours at the first or second visit getting to know the person because you really need to know that person before you continue the process.

I hadn't realised how onerous it was, particularly on medical practitioners. This doctor is an absolutely amazing Launceston GP - and we know how busy GPs are, and to be able to spend that amount of time, whether it be during normal practice hours or after hours. At one stage he told me he was there until 1.00 a.m. He said the rewarding thing at the very end is, one particular patient he told me about grabbed his arm, obviously before he had the medication, looked him in the face and said, 'Thank you.' He said something like that makes it so worthwhile, to help someone in such a difficult situation.

I didn't have a lot of knowledge about the portal or how it actually worked. I was really surprised to see and to hear from the member for Mersey about the fact that Tasmania is the only state not to have a portal in place. To me, it's amazing - the fact that we weren't the last state, from my understanding, to get the VAD, but we're the only state not to have a portal. When I put into the search engine about the portal, I thought that it was interesting:

A voluntary assisted dying (VAD) portal is a secure, state-specific online system used by medical practitioners and other authorised personnel to manage the VAD process, including accessing training, submitting forms, applying for permits, and recording data for quality improvement.

This next section is really the prime part, I believe:

The primary reasons for a VAD portal are to streamline administration, ensure consistent application of the law, protect user privacy, and provide a secure platform for the entire VAD workflow.

I'm sure that members in this place appreciate the amount of work that's gone into it, particularly by the member for Mersey, and the terrible situation that people are in when they need to choose VAD.

From my perspective, I certainly support the motion before us. I believe that all tools necessary should be available for a smooth transition for end‑of‑life care.