Participating in voluntary assisted dying
Requirements and considerations for medical practitioners looking to participate in voluntary assisted dying.
Under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (the Act), medical practitioners are the only health practitioners able to undertake the assessments required to enable someone to access voluntary assisted dying in South Australia.
Medical practitioners involved in the provision of end of life care may receive requests for information from patients about voluntary assisted dying.
As a doctor, you should consider your level of involvement in voluntary assisted dying and how you may respond to requests about voluntary assisted dying.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Clinical Guideline for Health Practitioners (PDF 236KB) is a comprehensive resource to support medical practitioners to understand the Voluntary Assisted Dying Pathway and their obligations under the Act when providing care to people accessing voluntary assisted dying.
It is important to remember that health practitioners must not discuss or suggest voluntary assisted dying to their patients unless the patient has clearly requested information about voluntary assisted dying themselves first.